Dissonance
by klepto-maniac0
Summary: AU. Chaos and Cosmos are avatars of the gods. As such, they are human, and humans are fallible...As Chaos is displeased to discover. Ch. 7: Sephiroth and Garland have a tiff, while Cloud wonders what's wrong with himself.
1. Chapter 1

**Dissonance**

- - - - -

Dissidia: Final Fantasy and all associated characters are property of Square Enix. This is a nonprofit work.

A/N: Inspired by Chaos's dream in Shade Impulse. No I haven't finished the game yet. I'm aware people may be out of character, but I'm tired of having to work at making good fanfic. That's partly why PYLO has not been updated in forever and, if I get bored enough, may be retconned from about chapter 90 onwards. But enough with the idle threats. Onwards with the story!

- - - - -

**Chapter One**

The raven arrived when Sephiroth was just finishing up the final sharpening on the last two feet of the Masamune. Unusually poite for one of Chaos's creatures, it landed on a nearby tree and just cocked its head at him until he noticed it, which was of course immediately. Then it fluffed its wings and preened itself, which gave Sephiroth a good look at the slim red metal tubes tied around its legs.

Sephiroth finished the final sharpening and set the whetstone down on the bench. He lived apart from the rest of Chaos's minions, not because he was particularly trusted but because less bloodshed happened that way. Sephiroth thought he was innocuous, but apparently he irritated certain high-strung people just by existing. Thus, isolation. Not that he minded.

Still, every now and then, Chaos sent him a line to make sure he was alive and obedient. When Sephiroth held out his arm, the raven fluttered over and landed on him, fixing his beady black eyes on Sephiroth's bright green ones. Then, almost imperiously, it stuck its leg out at him. Sephiroth touched the tube with his free hand.

"Come back," said Chaos's deep voice in his mind. "I have need of you."

The raven put its leg back down and looked at Sephiroth expectantly. Sephiroth stroked its broad, glossy head for a moment before lightly throwing his arm into the air. The bird flew off and for a moment Sephiroth considered picking up the Masamune and slicing the thing in half. Because even though it was only a bird, it had come from Chaos and that annoyed him. But, it was only a bird.

So Sephiroth rose, put on his coat, and went to the Black Palace of his master.

- - - - -

If Sephiroth had had a soul he'd cared about, he'd have feared for it in Chaos's presence. As it was, he still felt a deep, disquieting chill in his visceral organs whenever he stood before Chaos, which fortunately was not very often. Sephiroth wasn't sure how Mateus, Garland, or any of the others managed it. Were they so used to this cold chill that they just didn't notice it anymore? Or had their perception of it simply frozen and broken off? That bore some thinking. Did you lose pieces of yourself every time you stood before Chaos?

Chaos was in the Throne when Sephiroth arrived in the Black Palace, like usual. Like always. Sephiroth stood before him and waited for Chaos to speak, but like usual and always, he couldn't stop himself from looking at Chaos's arms. One of them was reclining on the black marble armest of the Throne. Two were in Chaos's lap. And the last one was propping up Chaos himself as the avatar of the God of Chaos sat meditately in his throne. In a lesser being, it would have been described as 'lounging'.

"Prompt, as always," said Chaos. Behind his almost disturbingly mellifluous voice was something Sephiroth had never heard before, and Sephiroth's hearing and memory were excellent. He sharpened his focus. "You look well, Sephiroth."

"Thank you."

Chaos shifted in the Throne, and with that small movement, Sephiroth's sense of unease quadrupled. It occurred to him then that Sephiroth had never seen Chaos out of the Throne. He had legs--surely he used them. Sephiroth wondered if his unease was due to Chaos or the symbol of his power.

"I summoned you for a specific task," said Chaos. "Sephiroth, one of your greatest strengths is a swift death, is it not?"

What the hell kind of question was that? "If not my greatest."

"Excellent," said Chaos. "The others, well... They have their uses. But you..."

Then Chaos did something very strange. Something that made Sephiroth take notice. He shifted again. Once could be passed off as making himself comfortable, but twice was nervousness. What could make Chaos nervous? Sephiroth began to get a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"You are to travel to the lands of Cosmos," said Chaos. "And kill a certain... Person."

And what person could make Chaos nervous? Sephiroth could think of only one, but...

"You know of whom I speak," said Chaos. "I see it in your eyes."

Sephiroth took a chance. "May I speak?"

"You may."

"I believe this is unwise," said Sephiroth.

"Of course it's unwise," said Chaos with what might have been humor. "But you can do it, can't you?"

"I..." Sephiroth swallowed. "I don't know if I can kill a goddess."

"Mmm."

And just like that, fear swept over Sephiroth. He fought to control his breathing and the sudden shaking in his hands as Chaos's eyes narrowed infinitesimally in displeasure.

"You will need a suitable weapon," said Chaos. He waved one of his four hands and a sword appeared in the air above his palm. It was short, broad-bladed, and glowed like flame along the edges. At first glance, it looked like a ridiculous ornamental "weapon". But it radiated dread like Chaos and the Throne. Sephiroth did not want to touch it.

"This is one of my own," said Chaos. The blade fell to rest in his massive, thickly muscled hand and seemed to meld into him. It was as natural to him as the Masamune was to Sephiroth. Sephiroth watched, mesmerized, as Chaos ran one of his palms along the edge. Blood--Chaos's blood was black and sluggish, like oil.

"You should have no problems killing a goddess with this," said Chaos, wiping his blood from the edge with his fingers. "Take it with you, for the final blow."

Oh, no. No, no, no. But Sephiroth's feet dragged him forward, and even as his skin shuddered away from the hilt of the god-wounding blade, Sephiroth's hand closed around it. The small part of Sephiroth's mind that always remained cold and aware noticed that his hand did not shake. So his body had not totally betrayed him. And just like that, his tongue was free.

"Lord Chaos, why?"

Chaos glared at him. Outright glared. His eyes burst from smoldering embers into full flame and his thick lips drew over his pointed teeth in a bestial snarl. He leaned forward in the Throne, putting his face closer to Sephiroth's than it had even been in all Sephiroth's years of service. Though Sephiroth stood taller than Chaos in the Throne, the silver-haired man still felt like shrinking.

"You dare question me?" In contrast, Chaos's voice was low and almost conversational.

"You gave me leave to speak," said Sephiroth softly.

Chaos exhaled through his teeth. Sephiroth expected to smell brimstone and rotting meat. Instead he smelled...nothing. Not even a hint of morning breath. Sephiroth found that frightening, because everything had a smell. Everything living.

"The reasons should be obvious," said Chaos, settling back into the Throne. Sephiroth breathed a little easier, albeit shakily.

"But not the timing," said Sephiroth. "Has something happened?"

Chaos drummed his fingers on one of the Throne's dark armrests. "You are not like the others," said Chaos finally. "Why do you oppose me?"

"I only want to know the reason I'm being used," said Sephiroth.

Chaos drummed his fingers again. His thick talons thunked dully against the stone, gleaming wickedly black in the throne room's lights. His demonic visage was tensed in strange lines of contemplation.

"I see," said Chaos. "Don't we all. Very well then, Sephiroth. Cosmos must die because she...She disturbs me."

What? Sephiroth tried to wrap his mind around the statement. "Hasn't she always?"

"No," he said. "She hasn't. Before I could tolerate her existence, but now..."

This was all very strange. Sephiroth couldn't stop himself from asking, "Has she done something to you? To our land?"

"No," said Chaos. Then he laughed, which nearly startled Sephiroth out of his skin. "No, she hasn't. And yet she has. So, she must die."

"I...see." Actually no, he didn't.

"The Witch's Mirror tells us that the current Cosmos has chosen her successor," said Chaos. "The balance will not be upset should she die."

"The WItch's Mirror?"

"A toy of Ultimecia's," said Chaos. "A scrying tool of some use. It is...handy for keeping an eye on those of the light."

Like the trickling of the sand in an hourglass, little facts and peculiar notions began to fall into place. The cold and aware part of Sephiroth's mind watched as Chaos saw the truth forming on Sephiroth's face and in turn, started to get tense about it.

"Go now and kill Cosmos," said Chaos. "That is my order."

"Is it really necessary?"

Chaos glared again, but for some reason it seemed less powerful to Sephiroth. Perhaps that was because Sephiroth felt like laughing on the inside.

"In my experience, once you get to know someone, you don't want them nearly as much."

Chaos slammed his fist on the Throne. Sephiroth was startled, but he did not jump or flee. "You presume too much!" Chaos snarled. "Do you wish to die, Sephiroth?"

"Is knowing what I know really worth killing me?"

A deep, thundering growl tore its way from Chaos's throat and minutes before, Sephiroth would have been trembling. Yet now... Now...

"Augh!" Chaos grunted and sank into the Throne. "This is ridiculous. All of it."

"Lord Chaos, you are the avatar of the God of Chaos," said Sephiroth. "But before that, you were and still are a man. These things happen."

Chaos scowled at him, but there was no deadly ire in his eye. One nice thing you could say about Chaos was that he was honest and fair, in his own terrible and swift way. It was why Sephiroth respected him before he feared him.

"Do you really want me to kill her?" Asked Sephiroth.

"No..." Chaos pinched the bridge of his nose. "Don't. She's done nothing."

The urge to say 'she's done something, alright' had never been stronger, but Sephiroth kept his mouth shut.

"I will kill you if you say anything about this," said Chaos, his eyes flicking to Sephiroth.

"About what, Lord Chaos?"

Chaos's mouth twitched. "Funny. Leave, Sephiroth. I have no use for you."

Sephiroth saluted and exited the throneroom on foot. He could have teleported back home, but he wanted time to think about what had just happened. Despite what he'd said to Chaos about being a man and things happening, he was still floored by what had just happened. Chaos...was infatuated with Cosmos. Stranger things had probably happened, but Sephiroth was not aware of them.

Clank clank clank. Sephiroth's ears pricked at the noise. It was never hard to hear someone in armor coming, but it took a very fine ear to distinguish between different armor-wearers. Fortunately, Sephiroth had that sort of detail-oriented mind, so he knew it was Garland coming up behind him and not Mateus, Golbez, or Gabranth. He turned around just in time to see Garland reaching out for him, presumably to wrench him around. Or tap him on the shoulder.

"Sephiroth," said Garland. His voice was a low rumble like Chaos's, but less refined. "You have been to see Chaos?"

"I have."

Garland exhaled. "Good," he said firmly. As his hand fell back to his side, he said, "I will rest easier tonight, knowing the matter is taken care of."

Sephiroth inclined his head just a little. Garland would take the gesture for one of approval or agreement. In actuality, Sephiroth was intrigued. If Sephiroth, the most distant of Chaos's generals, and Garland, the closest of them all, knew that Chaos liked Cosmos, who else knew? Everyone in between? Probably not. Then again, people eavesdropped. People gossiped.

"Sephiroth."

Sephiroth twitched as Chaos's voice boomed in his head again. Apparently Garland heard it too, because he also jumped in his armor.

"Return," said Chaos.

Sephiroth shrugged internally and happened to glance at Garland. The armored man seemed tense. Perhaps he'd sensed not all was well. No, he knew it.

Sephiroth walked back to the throneroom. To his great surprise, Chaos was out of the Throne and pacing. He was shockingly quiet for a such a large man. Demon. Four-armed demon. When Sephiroth came in, Chaos waved one his four arms and there was a growl of stone rising out of the floor. Sephiroth knew without looking at the entryway to the throneroom had closed.

"You said that once you know someone, you desire them less," said Chaos, not looking up from his pacing. "Why?"

"The wanting is usually more pleasant than the having," said Sephiroth. "When you have something, you know its flaws or how it can be better. When you merely want it, it's the best thing in the world."

"Interesting," said Chaos. "So how would I...?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "You could meet her, perhaps? Parley between our sides is not without precedent."

"Leaving the Throne unattended would be unwise," said Chaos.

Sephiroth wondered why that was, but wasn't stupid enough to ask. It wasn't likely Chaos would give him an honest answer, anyway, especially if it pertained to the Sucession.

"You could..." Sephiroth wondered what normal people did to express their feelings. "Send...A letter?"

"A letter?"

"My apologies, Lord Chaos," said Sephiroth. "It is a pretty stupid idea."

"No, it's..." Chaos rubbed his chin and folded his arms at the same time. "It has its merits. You have the power of teleportation, do you not?"

Sephiroth sensed he would either be hating his life or having the time of it in the next few hours. "I do. Should I sit down and make myself comfortable?"

Chaos lifted one heavily developed brow at him as though to say "My, aren't you a cheeky one", but aloud all he said was, "That might be wise."

"I have a book of poetry from an old friend," said Sephiroth. "If you'd like, I could--"

"NO."

- - - - -

A/N: I wrote out most of the story during slow times at work. The entire thing is planned out. I wrote this chapter, however, while listening to "Prisencolininsinainciosol", which is an amazing piece of music that would probably make a really interesting linguistic study for some language class. If you haven't heard it already, it's a freakishly catchy and fun music that is pure gibberish, much like the loituma/Leekspin song. However, it is made to sound like English. IT BLOWS MY MIND.

Also, the title for this fic comes from SilverWhirl, who commented there was a weird dissonance between the silliness of the situation and the seriousness of the narrative. Oh, and the fact that it sounds like Dissidia doesn't hurt either.

- - - - -


	2. Chapter 2

**Dissonance**

- - - - -

Dissidia: Final Fantasy and all associated characters are property of Square Enix. This is a nonprofit work.

A/N: Inspired by Chaos's dream in Shade Impulse. No I haven't finished the game yet. I'm aware people may be out of character, but I'm tired of having to work at making good fanfic. That's partly why PYLO has not been updated in forever and, if I get bored enough, may be retconned from about chapter 90 onwards. But enough with the idle threats. Onwards with the story!

- - - - -

**Chapter Two**

The sun rose bright and early over the Ordered Lands, the sweet and fair realm bequeathed to the mortals who followed Cosmos, Goddess of all that was good and lawful. There were gently rolling plains that led into fertile valleys, sparkling lakes teeming with fish and fowl, and in the very center of this blessed land was Order's Sanctuary, the beautiful palace of the avatar of Cosmos, her sucessor, and her ten loyal knights. On any other day, it was the most peaceful place in the land. Today, however...

"Oh, not _another_ one!"

Tidus wasn't scared of much, as a rule. Being abandoned on the street when he was seven kind of put things like monsters under the bed and giant spiders into perspective. Hell, even things like furious foster fathers kind of lost their bite. As it was, Tidus had to bite the inside of his cheek really, really hard to avoid laughing at the look on Luc's face as the tall knight stared down in 99% pure rage at the single black rose lying on Cosmos's bed. Cosmos herself, fresh from her morning bath and actually steaming a little in the cool morning air, was merely amused.

"And that makes thirteen," said Cosmos serenely. Apparently gliding forth, she crossed the marble floor and delicately picked up the dark flower. It had been carefully plucked of all thorns, so there was nothing to distract from its silky purple petals or the heady, intoxicating scent it filled the room with. Privately Tidus thought the scent was part of the problem. Sure it was just a flower, but it smelled musky, rich, and somehow indecent. If seduction had a smell, that was probably it. And probably Luc really, really did not like the idea of someone trying to seduce his Goddess. He took his title as "The Warrior of Light" very seriously.

"My lady, why do you keep them?" Asked Luc in an aggreived tone of voice as Cosmos smelled the flower appreciatively before putting it into a slender white vase next to her bedstead. The vase was quite slender in the neck and the hand-sized black roses were just barely able to fit into it. Tidus foresaw a larger vase in Cosmos's future.

"They're nice," said Cosmos, touching the dark flowers. "Besides, we don't have anything like them in the Ordered Lands."

"Which means they're probably from the Plains of Madness!" Luc said in a voice just below a shout. "My lady, please get rid of them."

"No."

Luc took a deep breath, and his usually handsome, serene face took on the same sort of look he'd used to get when he'd come home and find that "the kids" had made a mess in their flat again. Ahh, childhood memories. But Daddy Luc looked like he needed an assist, so Tidus cleared his throat and spoke.

"Cosmos, don't you find it just the least bit creepy that these roses keep getting in here?" Tidus asked. When Cosmos turned to look at him, he said, "Well, it's just that we've been finding them in places like your bedroom, your bath, your closet..."

"Which means someone is getting into these places!" Luc said passionately. "And if you keep these things, then whoever's leaving them may get ideas as to what else is acceptable!"

"My dear Warrior," said Cosmos with a smile. "If someone had wanted to do such things to me, he or she would have done so already. Besides, these flowers have no malicious intent behind him."

"How do you know?" Tidus asked.

Cosmos smiled, and there was some intangible quality about it that reminded Tidus that Cosmos was not fully human.

"These flowers were grown with love and delivered with a spirit of mischief," said Cosmos. "I'm sure whoever is delivering these will eventually show him or herself."

Tidus was close enough to see a muscle in Luc's face jump. He could sympathize. No one should be getting into Cosmos's private rooms if he, Luc, and the other eight knights were doing their jobs properly. Every rose Cosmos kept was a slap in the face to her champions, though she didn't seem to realize that.

_"Screw showing themselves,"_ Tidus thought with a little internal growl. _"We'll catch him. Or her. Though I bet it's a him."_

"I have to dress," said Cosmos. "If you'll please excuse me."

Luc and Tidus bowed and left the room. Though it was a cool spring morning, Tidus felt quite warm in his squire's armor, which was a simple tunic of pale blue and darker blue pants, underneath both of which were fitted bits of boiled leather armor. Tidus still wasn't quite used to it, but then again he'd only started wearing it since the black roses had started appearing. Prior to that he'd been wearing whatever the hell he'd felt like. Cosmos and Luc were lenient that way, letting him and the other squires wear what they want as long as it didn't interfere with their ability to fight. Ex-captain Shantotto disapproved, but she didn't have say over Champion dress code anymore, unless you counted Zweibel. But he was her page, so that only made sense.

Tidus and Luc took their places on opposite sides of Cosmos's double doors, hands on swords and at the ready. Personally Tidus thought the guard was unnecessary--it wasn't like whoever was leaving the black roses would charge Cosmos's room in broad daylight. Plus, Cosmos had a point--if someone wanted to do something to her, he'd've done so already. Tidus had the feeling that at this point, whoever was leaving the roses was doing it just to screw around with Luc since he was the one getting the most pissed about it. Which then brought up the question of who wanted to piss Luc off.

_"It might be Shantotto,"_ Tidus thought speculatively. _"She does like to get a rise out of him... But... Nah. She's more likely to say something to his face. This rose crap is... I don't know."_

In a few short minutes, Cosmos emerged. She was wearing her customary white dress and golden veil, and a sweet, innocent smell completely unlike the black roses seemed to fill the air around her. Tidus took a deep breath and instantly felt more at ease. Out of the corner of his eye, Tidus saw Luc relax infinitesimally as well.

Tidus and Luc fell into step behind Cosmos, taking care not to step on the swishing, sashaying petals of her fitted white dress. Tidus took great care to look straight ahead, as in the early days of his squireship he had made the mistake of looking at Cosmos's pert behind one too many times and had been taken to task for it. Funny how one mildly disappointed look from Cosmos could do the same thing as a furious lecture from Luc, though Tidus still maintained he was not entirely to blame. How many teenage boys would be able to resist from checking out a goddess's butt?

In any case, they made it to the throne room without incident. Shantotto and Zweibel were waiting by the doors, looking fresh and perky despite the early hour. Cosmos bid them good morning as she ascended the dais at the head of the throne room and sat down on her wide, dish-chaped throne, which was really more like a bench than an actual throne. Reaching out with one delicate hand, Cosmos plucked the Scepter of Order from its holding stand and settled the slender, moon-topped staff in her lap.

"Any more midnight presents, Cosmos?" Shantotto inquired with a wicked glint in her eye. The Tarutaru woman was tiny, bareful up to Tidus's knee, but still every bit as powerful today as she'd been ten years ago, when Tidus had first met her. Then again she was a black mage and they tended to get stronger as they got older, though just how old Shantotto was, Tidus had never dared to ask about.

At her question, Luc scowled, which made Shantotto burst out laughing.

"Ahh, to be young again," sighed Shantotto, touching her hand to her brow. "The days of handsome young men leaving presents at my door..."

The sound of Luc grinding his teeth was audible, at least to Tidus. Fortunately Luc was spared any more embarrassment by the arrival of Terra, Cosmos's sucessor.

"Good morning, everyone," Terra said as she entered the throne room. As had become usual since the arrival of the black roses, she was flanked by a knight and his squire--in this case, Cloud and Zidane. Though Cloud and Zidane had been paired together for two years now, it still confused the hell out of Tidus why they were together: Zidane was like Tidus, only on massive amounts of sugar and with a tail, whereas Cloud could be gloomy, broody, and most of the time was as silent as the grave.

_"Opposites complement each other, I guess,"_ Tidus thought, scratching his head.

"Good morning, Terra," said Cosmos. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, I did," said Terra. She took her place on a dais, a benchlike throne of her own that sat a few steps below Cosmos's. Tidus, Cloud, Luc, and Zidane arranged themselves accordingly to stand on both sides of the dais and flank their respective ladies.

"Shantotto, please admit the petitioners," said Cosmos as soon as Terra was situated.

Shantotto nodded, and together she and Zweibel opened the double doors. Beyond the massive marble doors waited a thick column of people with various disputes from all over the Ordered Lands. They had come for Court, which was not a gathering of nobles or a party, but rather when Cosmos would hear their legal troubles and sort them out. As Cosmos was the incarnation of order and justice, her word was always final. Terra was supposed to sit in and listen to how Cosmos arrived at her decisions, for though Cosmos had a Goddess's divine judgment, logic could be learned by anyone.

The petitioners came in two by two, or sometimes more if the case was complicated. By the time lunch rolled around, Tidus's feet were sore from standing and he had counted all the ceiling tiles twice. So far there had been three land disputes, one tricky divorce, and four--count 'em, four--cases of inheritance. Boooooring. Tidus knew it was bad of him to wish for a murder, but at least those were interesting to listen to.

"Ohhh man," Tidus groaned, plunking himself onto the ground. Lunch was a relaxing two-hour break and, on sunny days like these, best taken outdoors. "That was brutal. I'd rather get my ass kicked in the training yard."

"Yeah, tell me about it," said Zidane, hanging upside down and eating an apple. The squires--the ones in town, anyway--were all eating lunch underneath the same old tree, which had a soft grassy hill to lie on, branches to climb, and plenty of leaves to block sunshine from the eyes. The knights were off doing their own thing.

"Does anyone else's feet hurt?" Zweibel asked rhetorically. The young page had his boots off and was digging his toes into the grass.

"My back hurts," said Bartz. Tidus doubted that, since he was in the tree and hanging upside down from the knees. "Does anybody know when Squall and Firion are supposed to be back?"

"Day after tomorrow," said Tidus. "They left right before this rose crap started, and there's been a rose each day since they left."

"Pity," said Zidane. "I'm sure Firion would have loved to take a look at them. Seeing as they're roses and all."

"They're not wild roses," said Zweibel. "I doubt he cares that much."

"You never know," said Zidane. He flipped himself adroitly onto the branch with his tail and took a big bite of apple.

"I meant when they're supposed to be back," said Bartz. "Hour-wise."

"Oh," said Tidus, and shrugged. "Luc probably knows."

"You mean Captain Luc," said Zweibel.

"Whatever," said Tidus.

"I miss patrol," said Bartz with a heavy sigh. "I can't wait to get back out on the road again. And I know Cecil feels the same way. We're just not meant to be stuck in the Sanctuary all the time. Any progress on finding out who's leaving Cosmos presents?"

"Nope," said Tidus.

"Bet that's driving the Captain nuts," said Zidane.

"Yeah," said Tidus. "He's on the verge of suggesting he sleep in her room."

Zidane and Bartz snickered. Even Zweibel smiled a little, which made Tidus grin good-naturedly. Luc's crush on Cosmos was all but legendary among the Champions.

"Maybe he's the one leaving them," said Zidane, waggling his eyebrows.

"Doubt it," said Tidus. "No guy gets that pissed about a girl finding his presents."

"Maybe he's acting."

"I don't think so." Then in a flight of fancy, he said, "Besides, he seems more like a white rose guy than a black rose one."

"True, true."

"Yeah."

"Definitely."

A sudden harsh, metallic clang broke through the air, startling Bartz and Zidane out of the tree. Tidus vaulted onto his feet, chills racing over his skin.

"What was that?" Zweibel exclaimed, scrambling to his feet.

"I don't know, but it came from over there," said Tidus, narrowing his eyes towards the west. There wasn't much out there except for the ruins of the old White Palace, which had been destroyed generations ago when the wars with Chaos's people had been a great deal more lively. Nothing remained of the old palace now except picturesque ruins in a lake, which made it perfect for a broody type like Cloud to take a lunch break. In fact...

Tidus's chest seemed to suck in on itself at the thought of something happening to his older brother. There was no actual blood relation, but he, Cloud, and Squall had all been raised together for four years before joining up with the Champions of Cosmos. Tidus snatched up his weapon--unlike the other squires, he carried it with him all the time--and started running.

"Tidus, where are you going?" Bartz demanded.

"Get the knights!" Tidus shouted over his shoulder. "And take Zweibel someplace safe!"

"But--"

"Bartz, we're not armed, there's nothing we can do," said Zidane. As he scooped a protesting Zweibel onto his shoulder, he shouted, "Don't die, Tidus!"

"Who, me?" Tidus called back.

The sounds of conflict only grew louder as Tidus for the lake. Whatever was happening sounded like a sparring match, but at much higher speed than any fight Tidus had ever heard before. He swallowed the flutter of nervousness in his stomach and braced for something terrible as he burst through the trees. But as he burst onto the sunny lakeside, he looked around and realized Cloud was nowhere to be seen.

_"What the heck?"_ Tidus scanned the lake more closely. Cloud usually liked to eat on some of the ruins in the middle of the lake, which were reachable only by swimming or if you were a really good jumper, like Cloud was. _"Where is he?"_

A sudden chill raced down Tidus's neck. Without thinking he dashed to the side and yelped as one of Cloud's four swords whirled out of the sky, slamming into the place he'd been standing moments before. At once Tidus looked up and saw two dark figures, shockingly far away, grappling in midair. One of them was definitely Cloud--his spiky hair caught the sun like a halo, even at this distance--but the other...

_"Aw crap, I bet that's the intruder. And me all the way down here!"_

It was a terrible struggle from what Tidus could see. Cloud and the guy attacking him were moving so fast that all Tidus could see was the light flying off their swords. Aerial combat was not Tidus's strong suit, but he knew enough to see that the mystery guy was juggling Cloud--whacking him into the air over and over again expressly for the opportunity to hit him again. Tidus almost chewed on his nails--Cloud was a very good swordsman (well no duh, he was a knight of Cosmos), but how long could he last without taking a hit?

Then the mystery swordsman seemed to gain the upper hand. Tidus's mouth dropped open in a silent gasp of horror as Cloud plummeted towards the lake, his sword slipping out of his hand. Tidus dashed for the lake at once and threw himself into a long running dive, holding the Brotherhood in front of him like a spearhead. At once the cold water pressed around his chest and waist, squeezing the air inside him as Tidus struck madly for deep water. Cloud had hit the water hard. Hopefully he hadn't lost consciousness.

But no, there he was, floating senselessly and sinking towards the black bottom of the deep lake. Tidus's lungs and legs burned as he swam harder than he'd ever done in his entire life, but the pain was nothing compared to the sudden chill in his heart. If Cloud was dead...

Tidus reached Cloud and slung one arm around the other man's torso, catching him under the arms. Fortunately Cloud was very slender and easy to hold onto. Even better, he was regaining consciousness and kicked a little as Tidus began swimming for the surface. Tidus was good on breath, but then again he could hold his for ten minutes. Cloud could barely manage three.

Tidus dragged Cloud above the lake surface and as the older blonde coughed and sputtered, he looked around for the mystery guy. He was nowhere to be seen, predictably. Tidus turned back to Cloud.

"You okay?" He asked.

Cloud coughed and spat up a little water. He tried to raise his arm and winced, shutting his eyes at once.

"Whoa, you're hurt!" Tidus wrapped both arms around Cloud's chest, saying, "Hold on, I'm gonna get you to shore."

"Behind you," Cloud coughed.

Tidus spun around and, despite the warmth of the day, froze. There was the mystery man, hovering--hovering!--above the surface of the lake. Tidus was equally torn between staring at the single feathery black wing sprouting from the man's left shoulder and the freakishly, impossibly long sword he had in his left hand. Holy crap, he was flying.

"How nice," said the man. He looked like a seriously evil version of Cecil, with sharp, almost feline features and an evil black coat that flapped and furled like another pair of wings. "You brought a friend, Cloud."

"Dude!" Tidus blurted. "He knows your name!"

"Yes Tidus," Cloud said dryly. "I know."

The man raised his sword. Tidus yelped and curled into a ball; at once he and Cloud sank like a pair of bricks, and he heard the "shreet" of water being sliced just above his head. When he looked up, he still saw a glittering line in the lake surface above him.

_"Crap!"_ Tidus throught furiously. _"Now what?"_

He could just see the mystery man as a spot of blackness in the shining water. As Tidus sank, he ran over his options.

_"Zidane and Bartz must've gotten someone by now,"_ he reasoned. _"So they'll probably arrive in the next few minutes. I can hold my breath for that long, but Cloud..."_

Tidus looked at Cloud. The older blonde stared back at him with a face that could have either been panic or rage. It was the face of a man who was without air.

_"Nothing to do but do it,"_ Tidus thought sourly and grabbed Cloud by the back of the neck. He heard Cloud go "MMPH!" as Tidus smushed his mouth against his and forced his lips open. Before Cloud could misconstrue, Tidus blew hard into his older brother's mouth and drew back at once. Fortunately Cloud was not the kind to get stunned for long, and Tidus saw him swallow the borrowed air.

Suddenly the dark shadow above them moved. Tidus looked up to see the mystery man streak across the lake, away from the shore. Something else was following him. Tidus glanced at Cloud, and at the unspoken signal the two of them began to swim for the lake surface again. This time they surfaced quietly, just poking their heads above the water.

"Alright," Tidus breathed. The something he'd seen was Cecil, in flight and blazing like a white comet. He was fighting Mystery Man with his long spear, possibly the only weapon among the Champions that could match Mystery Man's way-too-long sword. Tidus took a deep breath and sank beneath the water again. Now was as good a time as any to make an escape, at least for Cloud. Tidus struck out for the bottom. He waved over his shoulder reassuringly and hoped Cloud would get the message.

The bottom of the lake was very dark, but fortunately since the start of the black roses everywhere, Luc had insisted everyone carry little glowstones in order to catch intruders by night. Tidus put the egg-sized stone in his mouth as he swam down into the lake, letting the soft white light fill the water around him. It was pretty powerful without being a beacon to anyone looking from above, and after about three minutes of searching, Tidus found Cloud's sword half-buried in the soft lake bottom. He knew as soon as he saw it that it would be much too heavy to take up all at once.

_"How does such a skinny guy use such a big sword?"_ Tidus thought to himself as he settled onto the lake bottom. Fortunately, he knew how to take the puzzle sword apart--it wasn't that hard if you knew anything about Cloud's fighting style. Pressure applied at specific points in specific places on the sword's main hilt made the jigsaw blade pop apart with a satisfying click and break into three different blades. There were actually four swords, but one was still lying buried in the lake shore. Tidus tucked the Brotherhood into its sheath at his side and picked up the two smaller swords of Cloud's blades. As he'd expected, they were heavy little bitches. Still, Tidus managed to swim with them and after what took almost too long, got to the surface with them.

"What the hell were you doing?" Was the first thing Tidus heard when he popped his head out of the water. Cloud was standing on the lakeshore, arms akimbo and glaring at him. Tidus had a sudden powerful flashback to when he'd been but ten and Cloud had been the closest thing to a mom he'd known in a good long while.

"I got you a present," said Tidus, hauling himself out of the water and sinking the two swords into the dirt. "Well, presents. There's still one more down there. What'd I miss?"

Cloud pointed, tight-lipped, down the shore. Tidus turned. The mystery man was lying on the lakeshore, unconscious and wrapped up in a hodgepodge of chains, rope, and ice magic that looked really, really uncomfortable. Luc, Cecil, and Shantotto were standing around him, looking either satisfied, worried, and very smug respectively.

"Awwww," said Tidus, pouting. "Why do I always miss all the good stuff?"

- - - - -

A/N: Zweibel is the Onion Knight. His name just means "Onion" in German. Also, there are some new and strange dynamics going on in Dissonance. I'll get into them more later. I will also explain later on why the Warrior of Light's name is Luc, as I did choose it for a reason.

And man, Tidus keeps becoming an unintentional badass. Oringally this chapter had Tidus kicking the Brotherhood at Sephiroth from underneth the lake, effectively creating a near-invisible missile that comes at Jecht Shot speeds... But then I realized, this is Tidus. What the hell am I doing that for?

And sorry, Cloud. You will kind of get your ass kicked a lot in this story. I like you and all, but you're a newly minted knight and you haven't met a Sephiroth-level asskicker yet. All the other knights--WoL, Firion, Cecil, and Shantotto--already have and they know what to do.

- - - - -


	3. Chapter 3

**Dissonance**

- - - - -

Dissidia: Final Fantasy and all associated characters are property of Square Enix. This is a nonprofit work.

A/N: Inspired by Chaos's dream in Shade Impulse. No I haven't finished the game yet. I'm aware people may be out of character, but I'm tired of having to work at making good fanfic. That's partly why PYLO has not been updated in forever and, if I get bored enough, may be retconned from about chapter 90 onwards. But enough with the idle threats. Onwards with the story!

- - - - -

**Chapter Three**

Prior to being selected as Cosmos's successor, Terra had never met anyone from outside the Ordered Lands. As such, she had a half-formed idea of such immigrants being deformed demons, or at least terrible and/or ugly people. But Tidus and Cloud were from the Plains of Madness originally and Cecil had immigrated to the Ordered Lands of his own free will, so Terra's opinions had reformed. Her ideas about what a creature of Chaos should look like underwent yet another transformation as she looked down at the intruder that Luc and the other knights had dragged into the throne room. He was very, very handsome and exuded an air of danger that made Terra's pulse flutter. Court was canceled for the day, obviously, and privately Terra was glad--this was much more exciting.

"Cloud found him around the lake," said Captain Luc. He and the other knights (excepting Firion, who wasn't back yet) stood around the bound intruder in a square, each holding onto a chain and a weapon. "We have reason to believe he is the intruder."

"I see," said Cosmos. She was once again seated on her throne, as Terra was on hers. The squires flanked them both, serving in what was hopefully going to remain a ceremonial capacity for now. "What is your name, sir?"

"Sephiroth," said the man in a voice like velvet. For a man wrapped in chains and with his entire torso encased in ice, he seemed remarkably at ease.

"And why did you come here?" Cosmos asked. She had such a gentle, neutral voice; she could ask anything and no one would be offended.

"I bring a message from Chaos," said Sephiroth. At once, everyone stiffened. Captain Luc turned, leveling his sword at Sephiroth's head.

"What sort of message?" Captain Luc demanded, glaring at the silver-haired man.

"One meant for Cosmos," said Sephiroth, and Terra wondered if she imagined just a bit of--what? Contempt? Annoyance?--in his unbelievably persuasive voice. "I'd get it out for you, but it's currently frozen onto my person."

"Do you know the gist of the message?" Cosmos asked.

"Yes," said Sephiroth. "I was there while he wrote it."

"Please enlighten us, then."

Sephiroth seemed to hesitate. Terra was not good at reading people when it came to body language and facial expressions, but she was very good at sensing how someone felt. Right now she sensed that Sephiroth was trying not to...laugh. Laugh?

"Do you like the flowers?" Sephiroth asked suddenly in an almost sprightly tone of voice.

"The black roses?" Cosmos smiled. "They're very nice."

"I'll pass that along," said Sephiroth. And now he was smiling.

"What?" That was Tidus, before he could stop himself.

"Are you saying Chaos told you to leave _roses_ everywhere?" Captain Luc demanded in a voice just below a shout. Terra hoped she was imagining the vein throbbing on his forehead.

"No," said Sephiroth. "I did that on my own."

"For what purpose?"

"I was bored."

This time the interruption came from Zidane, who snorted. He made a show of rubbing his nose when Captain Luc glared at him.

"What is the gist of the message?" Cosmos asked, folding her hands in her lap.

Sephiroth shrugged, or seemed to. The three-inch thick straitjacket of ice forestalled most of his movement.

"I was there when he wrote it," said Sephiroth. "But to be honest, I don't know what he put down. I can describe Chaos's general mood and how he was feeling that day, but I was threatened under pain of death not to read it."

"That sounds fairly serious," said Cosmos. "So the letter is on your person, then?"

"In one of my inner breast pockets," said Sephiroth. He nodded his chin at his right. "If you want it, you'll have to thaw me."

"And let you run loose again? Oh no," said Shantotto. "I think not."

"Agreed," said Captain Luc.

Cosmos rose to her feet. She held the Scepter loosely in her right hand as she came down the wide, shallow steps of the dais and approached Sephiroth. Captain Luc's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing as Cosmos stood directly in front of Sephiroth. Terra bit her lip. Sephiroth was chained up and frozen, but that had to be for a reason. If he struck out at Cosmos somehow...

_"This is the very center of Cosmos's power,"_ Terra told herself firmly. _"Nothing happens here, in this room, that she doesn't allow."_

"I would like to see the letter," said Cosmos. "Will you cause trouble if you are released?"

"No," said Sephiroth.

"And why is that?"

"I've been found out," said Sephiroth. "It no longer amuses me to sneak about your palace."

Cloud scoffed. Sephiroth just looked at him and smiled, which made Cloud glare at him.

"Do you swear not to cause trouble while you are here?" Cosmos asked.

"My dear woman," said Sephiroth, which made Captain Luc and the other knights bristle. "I never try to cause trouble regardless of where I am. If there is trouble while I'm about, rest assured I will have no active hand in it. Unfortunately, something about me tends to annoy high-strung people."

Captain Luc was apparently one such person, because he looked like he wanted to punch Sephiroth in the face.

Cosmos touched the Scepter to Sephiroth's head. At once the black-clad man stiffened, seizing and jerking up onto his toes. Terra's hand flew to her mouth.

"Worry not, Terra," said Cosmos, sensing her without looking at her. "The Scepter does inflicts neither pain nor harm. It does, however, go a little way in securing promises."

Cosmos lifted the Scepter. Sephiroth thudded to his knees, shaking and gasping. Terra saw several of the knights exchange looks, and she understood what they were thinking. Every single one of them had touched the Scepter or been touched by it at some point in time--for their knighting, if nothing else--and none of them had ever suffered that reaction.

"What did you do?" Sephiroth demanded, looking up at her. His eyes were wide and very, very green.

"You are true to your word," said Cosmos.

_"What does that mean?"_ Terra wondered. _"Did she just check his intentions, or force a vow of peace out of him?"_

"Please release him," said Cosmos, looking at Captain Luc.

"My lady, I think it is unwise--"

"Please."

Captain Luc sighed heavily. At his nod, Shantotto grudgingly melted the ice and Cecil flicked his wrist, pulling off the chains in one smooth motion. Sephiroth stood up and brushed off his sleeves.

"Ahem," he said dryly, reaching into his breast pocket. Despite Captain Luc's glare, he pulled out the letter without further incident and held it out to Cosmos. Unsurprisingly, the envelope was black and bore Chaos's emblem in dark red on the front. It didn't look any worse for the ice.

"Thank you," said Cosmos. She took the envelope: Terra noticed Sephiroth tensing ever so slightly away from her. Cosmos did not appear to notice as she opened the envelope and pulled out the letter within. "Let's see..." She scanned it quickly, then frowned. "How strange."

"What is it?" Captain Luc asked.

" 'To the Avatar of Cosmos,' " said Cosmos aloud. "Greetings from the Lands of Eternal Midnight, known to you as the Plains of Madness. Though you have held your office for many years and will hopefully do so for many more to come, I feel I have been remiss in sending you my congratulations. May your reign be long and prosperous. Your comrade in the stewardship of the Gods, the Avatar of Chaos."

"What the hell?" Terra heard Tidus mutter.

"Yeah, really," Bartz whispered back.

A strange noise made Terra look over her shoulder. Zidane had one hand over his mouth and the other hand on his side. Up until now, Terra had never seen anyone vibrating with suppressed laughter.

Then she heard another noise and Terra turned swiftly about to see Sephiroth smoothing his hand over his face. Was that mirth in his bright eyes?

"Does it say anything else?" Asked Captain Luc. For the first time since the proceedings had started, he did not sound irritated or hostile. He sounded genuinely confused.

"No," said Cosmos, flipping the letter back and forth. "It doesn't."

"What about the envelope?"

"There's nothing unusual about it," said Cosmos. She tapped it on her hand, but nothing fell out. "Hmm."

"Would you like me to take a letter back?" Sephiroth asked, lacing his hands behind his back. He looked very soldierly all of a sudden.

"If you wouldn't mind..." said Cosmos, still looking at the letter and the envelope. "Something like this does demand a reply... This is very strange. Letters are not without precedent, but I have been in office for many years now, at least as long as the current Chaos. Hmm..."

She suddenly seemed to realize everyone was standing around and looking at her. "Oh," said Cosmos. "I won't write one this second. My dear Warrior, would you mind escorting Sephiroth to one of our guest rooms for the time being?"

"As you wish," said Captain Luc, though he looked anything but happy about it.

"We will resume Court for the day," said Cosmos, folding the letter into a neat, delicate square. "I will have a reply by... Tomorrow morning, I think. Sephiroth, I believe you know where my rooms are?"

"Of course," said Sephiroth with a smile.

"Please come by an hour after sunrise," said Cosmos. She did not seem to realize how her words could be taken. "I will give you a reply then. Will you require anything for your journey back to the Black Palace?"

"No," said Sephiroth.

Cosmos nodded, a gentle and yet dismissive gesture. Captain Luc jerked his head at Tidus, who came down off the dais to join him. Together the two of them escorted Sephiroth off.

"Okay, what's so funny?" Bartz whispered to Zidane as Cosmos began to walk back toward the dais.

"Tell you later," Zidane whispered back, swallowing his laughter and straightening. "And I'll tell you too, Terra. I think we'll need a girl's perspective on this."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," said Zidane, grinning. "Oh man oh man..." He bit down on his lips as Cloud strode up the dais and took his usual place on the other side of Terra's throne, on her left. He seemed somewhat battered for some reason.

"Are you alright?" Terra asked, looking up at him.

"Fine," said Cloud in his usual brusque manner. Then he shook his head and said, "I'm fine. But thank you for asking, Terra."

As usual, his voice sent a warm little glow throughout her chest and Terra smiled a little. But she hid the smile and her disappointment as the throneroom doors opened and the day proceeded... As usual. Terra could only half-concentrate.

_"I wonder what Cosmos will write back..."_

- - - - - -

A/N: This chapter amuses me.

Also, I have misspelled Zweibel's name. I switched the 'e' and the 'i', but after some contemplation, I am going to leave it that way. If I put the letters in their correct place, Zweibel's name becomes "Zwee-ble", which I don't like at all. Zweibel/"Tsvy-ble" is much preferred.

One more thing. I can tell from the traffic stats that people seem to be amused by this story, but even though I am writing in a "what the hell" kind of mood, constructive criticism is always appreciated. Right off the bat I know the Warrior of Light is probably terribly out of character, but he was kind of flat in Dissdia and lord knows he didn't actually have a character in FFI. So here I have him flipping out left and right. Hehe.

- - - - - -


	4. Chapter 4

**Dissonance**

Dissidia: Final Fantasy and all associated characters are property of Square Enix. This is a nonprofit work.

A/N: Inspired by Chaos's dream in Shade Impulse. No I haven't finished the game yet. I'm aware people may be out of character, but I'm tired of having to work at making good fanfic. That's partly why PYLO has not been updated in forever and, if I get bored enough, may be retconned from about chapter 90 onwards. But enough with the idle threats. Onwards with the story!

**Chapter Four**

White. White everywhere. Sephiroth looked around the guest room in great disapproval, though he had to admit the four-poster bed on the one side looked pretty comfortable. Behind him he could feel the Warrior and his swimming squire glaring holes into his back.

"Do you require anything?" Asked the Warrior in a purely perfunctory tone.

Sephiroth considered saying 'yes' just to torment the man, but decided against it. "No," he said, turning around. "But am I to stay here until summoned?"

The Warrior's lips thinned. Sephiroth couldn't get over how ridiculous his armor looked, but the man moved like a great swordsman. He was also a very good little knight, because he said (however reluctantly), "Cosmos gave no such order. If you wish to explore, you are free to do so. But-"

"I won't make any trouble," said Sephiroth, and tapped his head. "Your lady made sure of that."

He could see the flicker of disquiet pass over the younger man, but the Warrior just nodded. "Rest well, then," he said. "For your safe journey home."

_"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"_ Sephiroth thought with a humorless little smile. _"You can't wait to have me gone."_

Sephiroth turned away and presently the Warrior and his squire left. Sephiroth paced the room, picking up the pillows and squeezing them, and checking underneath the bed for any unpleasant surprises. They had confiscated the Masamune, but Cosmos would return it to him tomorrow. He wasn't sure how he knew that, only that he did. Ever since she'd touched him ever so lightly with that peculiar staff, a lot of things suddenly made more sense. It was both a relief and somewhat frightening. The last time things had been so clear, important people had...

Sephiroth veered away from that train of thought and poked around his room a bit more. There was a bath attached to his room-a proper bath with taps, not unlike the one he'd had when he'd used to be the Governor of Midgar. The sight of the neat white porcelain tub, deep enough to sit up in and still be immersed in water, was quite tempting. Still, there was naked (no weapon) and naked. So Sephiroth shut the bathroom door and went to the window instead.

He had to admit the view was rather nice. The White Palace was similar to the Black Palace in the aspect that it sat on some very high ground. However, whereas the Black Palace was actually dug into a mountain to create vast, cavernous chambers and sinisterly long hallways, the White Palace studded the outside of its mountain and while it had a few tunnels, was mostly connected together through a series of airy walkways that hugged the mountainside. Fragile-looking railings girded the walks and some of the more well-used ones were even covered with tiled roofs. Sephiroth could see a few of those from his window, which was as wide and high as he was tall and had the added bonus of being able to open all the way, like doors. The only downside as far as Sephiroth could see (aside from the color scheme, anyway) was that the morning sun would shine directly into the room, and the flimsy excuses for curtains shading the window hinges would do nothing about it.

Sephiroth pushed the windows open. At once, the wind hit him in the face, hard but not unforgiving. It lifted his hair and swirled it around him, seemingly running curious fingers over his scalp and face. It smelled light and innocent, like jasmine and oranges. Certainly not at all like the roses, which made Sephiroth smirk.

_"I wonder if Exdeath has noticed them missing yet,"_ Sephiroth mused. Befitting one born of an evil tree or some such, Exdeath had an unspoken passion for plants. His section of the Black Palace was basically one big garden and the only place where the sun seemed to shine with any great brightness. Normally Sephiroth would not have cared or even noticed this, but his demesne was close to Exdeath's and more than once, he had noticed the teal-colored golem carefully tending to his little charges. The black roses were apparently Exdeath's favorites, if the amount of time he spent on them was any indication. So Sephiroth took them, not because he found their scent pleasing but because he knew it would enrage Exdeath. It wasn't nice and it certainly wasn't wise, but for whatever reason Sephiroth just couldn't stand it when someone had something that made them happy. He wasn't resentful about it, he just...couldn't tolerate it.

_"I didn't use to be like this,"_ he thought absently. _"Not always. But..."_

Again that uncomfortable train of thought. Sephiroth stepped onto the window ledge and jumped off. There was nothing like a freefall and a flight to really clear the mind.

lllll lllll lllll lllll lllll

Terra cautiously probed Cloud's side, flinching when he hissed in pain. Cosmos stood at Terra's side, one hand on the young girl's shoulder.

"Sorry," said Terra.

"It's fine," said Cloud. He had his shirt off and was holding the back of his neck so Terra could touch his side without anything in her way. Terra tried not to be distracted by his handsomely muscled torso. Unlike some of the Champions, Cloud was not frightfully muscular: he had a perfect balance between muscle tone and softness that Terra couldn't help but find appealing. At the moment, however, he had a large and ugly purple bruise spreading over several of his ribs.

"How did this happen?" Terra asked, probing Cloud's ribs again.

Cloud winced and let out a slow hiss between his teeth. "When I was fighting Sephiroth at the lake," he said. "I tried to close with him, and he punched me in the ribs."

"Ow," said Zidane. The four of them were sitting in Cloud's room, which Terra tried not to think too much on either. "And this was while he was parrying your blows?"

"He locked hilts with me first," said Cloud. "And then he punched me. Three times."

"Three times?"

"He's much quicker than you think he is," said Cloud. He grunted as Terra ran her fingers over his ribs one more time.

"Three fractured," said Terra, looking up at Cosmos. "I think?"

Cosmos nodded. "Very good, Terra." Terra beamed. Cosmos continued, saying, "As my successor, you have access to Cosmic magic, the power of restoring and maintaining order. One of the things that Cosmic magic can be used for is healing, because it restores the body's original order. You're going to use that power now to heal Cloud's ribs." She smiled and added, "This is not so different from repairing the vase you did last week."

"Even though he's alive?"

"Normally it would be quite different," said Cosmos. "But you are tapping into a deep and primal magic, a fundamental force of sorcery. So instead it becomes quite simple. Try it." She squeezed Terra's shoulder. "I will be here to set things aright in case of unseen complication."

That was reassuring. Terra took a deep breath and looked at Cloud, who was looking back at her with a blank expression. Terra hoped she wasn't imagining the implicit trust in his cornflower blue eyes.

She placed her hands on his bruised ribs, careful not to press any harder than necessary. At the same time, Terra mentally raised her awareness, visualizing her mind rising to a higher plane of focus. As her mind rose, her thoughts sharpened and crystallized, falling into place like pieces of a puzzle. And then it simply bloomed.

Cosmic magic felt very different from regular magic, which Terra did know how to use. Cosmic magic _was_ deeper and more basic than regular magic, but because of this, it had many more broad applications that Terra was still understanding. If using regular magic was like writing a word, then using Cosmic magic was like learning how to manipulate the writing implement so you could not only write letters, but draw, notate music, create shorthand, and so on and so forth. Healing cracked ribs was indeed quite siilar to fixing a broken vase, but somehow even easier-the ribs were still next to each other and because they were organic, seemed to yearn to become whole once more. Terra gently pushed a flow of Cosmic Magic into Cloud's ribs and felt it sink into where it was needed. In moments, the broken ribs healed and Terra felt a push against her hands-it was powerful and concussive, no doubt the force that had originally broken Cloud's ribs in the first place. But, caught up in Cosmic magic as she was, the force simply passed through Terra without harm and dispersed harmlessly through her, making her hair puff out in an unseen wind.

"Very good," said Cosmos as Terra carefully withdrew her magic from Cloud's body and let her mind sink back into her skull. Cloud looked down at his side, which was now not even bruised.

"Sweet," said Zidane, leaning forward. He poked Cloud's ribs, saying, "Does it hurt?"

"No," said Cloud, and he flexed and rotated his arm a couple times. The motions made his chest and arm muscles ripple in an incredibly distracting way. "No," he said, and Terra mentally shook herself from her reverie. "It feels fine. Thank you, Terra."

"No problem," said Terra with a smile. "I'm glad to help."

They all turned as someone knocked on the door frame. To Terra's surprise, it was Firion with Squall lurking behind.

"Hello Cosmos, Terra," said Firion with a smile. "It's nice to finally be back. What's this I've been hearing about intruders bearing roses?"

"Oh," said Cosmos with a little laugh. "You've heard about our recent excitement from the others, I take it."

"It's all they can talk about," said Firion, shrugging.

"I heard the intruder got the drop on you," said Squall to Cloud.

"When you say 'I know you're there, come out', you never really expect them to come out," said Cloud as he put his shirt back on. The tight dark purple weave hugged his torso perfectly, which Terra did her best not to pay attention to.

"Would you like to see the roses, Firion?" Asked Cosmos, smiling. "I'm sure you'll find them quite interesting."

"I'm sure I will," said Firion. "Are they really black?"

"A deep, dark purple," said Cosmos, moving towards the door. Firion and Squall stepped aside to let her pass. "And their scent is quite musky."

"Musky, that's unusual."

"It's nice to see you again, Squall," said Terra. The scarred youth nodded.

"Nice to be home," he said. He looked at Cloud again. "So, where's this intruder?"

"Ask Luc and Tidus," said Cloud, getting to his feet. "They took him to one of the guest rooms. You can ask them about it at dinner."

"Dinner?"

"Yes, dinner," said Cloud. "That thing we do whever one of us comes back from patrol and haven't seen the others in a long time?" As Squall looked away rubbing the back of his neck, Cloud put his hands on his hips and said, "Don't tell me you made plans."

"I told Rinoa..."

"Why would you tell her that? You know it's tradition."

Squall shrugged helplessly. "You've never had a girlfriend," he said. "You don't know what it's like. She just..."

"Bats her eyes?" Zidane supplied helpfully. "Pouts? Or do that thing where she'll clasp her hands in front and it makes her..." He apparently remembered Terra was in the room and coughed, saying, "Never mind."

Cloud rolled his eyes. "You have the afternoon off," he said sternly. "Do whatever you like, but we expect you back by dinner."

"Whatever," Squall muttered, but it sounded like a 'yes' whatever instead of a rude whatever. "Can I go now, _Mom_?"

"Make sure you say hi to Luc and Tidus," said Cloud. "And one more thing..."

"What?"

"Wash behind your ears."

"Ha, ha," said Squall dryly as Zidane grinned. Cloud just cocked a brow at him, which made Squall roll his eyes. He could be very rude like that sometimes.

Rapid footsteps in the hall made Terra look toward with the door with a little frown. It was Bartz and Tidus.

"Hey man!" Tidus cuffed Squall on the shoulder, grinning like a loon. "How are ya? S'been a while!"

"Not long enough," Squall muttered, but accepted Tidus's hug good-naturedly and deigned to pat him on the back.

"Okay Zidane," said Bartz, rubbing his hands. "Spill it. Why the laughing in Court?"

"Ha!" Zidane hooted, brightening like a thousand candles. He practically danced with glee. "Ha ha ha ha ha! OH MAN!"

"Well don't keep us waiting," said Tidus, who now had his hand on Squall's back and was pushing him into the room. Terra was amused at how her room had suddenly turned into the break hall.

"Oh man, you don't get it?" Zidane was grinning so hard it looked like the top half of his head was about to pop off. "Think! Roses! Awkward letters! Sucking other people into doing your bidding!"

"What?" Squall looked at Tidus, perplexed.

"Cosmos has been finding black roses all over her bedroom," said Tidus. "And today she got a OHHHHHH!" He gasped deeply. "NO WAY!"

"I'm tellin' ya, it's the only thing that makes sense!" Zidane chortled. "The big bad god of evil has a crush on our Cosmos!"

Terra squeaked. Fortunately, that sound was lost beneath Bartz'z yelp of dismay.

"That... That..." Bartz stammered.

"But how?" Terra exclaimed. "He doesn't even know what she looks like!"

"Who cares?" Zidane laughed, bouncing on his heels. "It's hilarious!"

"Actually..." That was Cloud.

"Oh, come on," said Tidus, grinning. "It is a little funny, isn't it? See, even Squall agrees." And indeed, Squall was nodding. He was also smiling a little, which was apparently how he laughed.

"No, Terra had it right," said Cloud, nodding at Terra. "If he does have a crush on her, why now? And why in the first place? There's been no contact between our sides in over a thousand years, except in the borderlands where we occasionally fight each other. And Chaos himself has never been seen outside the Plains of Madness."

"Okay..." said Bartz, frowning. "So... What?"

Squall suddenly sighed. "It means they're spying on us."

"What?" Bartz and Zidane looked at him sharply.

"How else would the intruder know how to get here?" Cloud said, leaning forward on his knees.

"How else would he know where Cosmos's rooms are?" Tidus added, his eyes narrowing.

"And how else would he even know enough of Cosmos to get a crush on her..." Zidane said slowly.

Silence fell over the room. Then Cloud got to his feet.

"Tidus, where's Luc?" He asked.

"He just went to the armory," said Tidus, starting to leave. "I'll get him." Squall strode past him, his face grim.

"Bartz, get Cecil," said Cloud. "And put Shantotto on alert. Zidane, stay here with Terra."

"What are we doing?" Zidane asked, worried.

"We're going to ask Sephiroth some questions," said Cloud, walking toward the door.

"Cloud, no!" Zidane exclaimed, making the knight turn. "Come on, he already kicked the crap out of you once."

"This is why I'm getting backup immediately," said Cloud. "Instead of waiting for it."

"Look, I get why you're concerned and all, but-"

"But what?" Cloud put his hands on his hips. "Sit here and do nothing? Sephiroth is probably running around right now, gathering surveillance, and we let him in here like a bunch of fools. Luc would agree with me when I say we need to tie him up and throw him in the dungeons. Or whatever we have that passes for dungeons."

Terra bit her lip. All this because she'd said a few words...

Cloud left the room and everyone followed, leaving Terra with Zidane. The monkey-tailed squire seemed bewildered by everything.

"Man," he said finally. He looked at Terra and half-smiled, his eyes softening with humor. "Ya know, you got some killer perspective."

"But I didn't-"

"No, it's good you brought it up," said Zidane, unsheathing his dual daggers. "Otherwise we might be in even more of a mess in the future." He sketched a sign in the air and at once, a glowing glyph sprang to life in front of Terra's door. As Zidane drew the same sign and covered her windows, he added, "It's been such a long time since the Sanctuary was attacked, it's pretty easy to forget we're still at war."

A dark shadow suddenly fell over his face. Terra and Zidane spun around just in time to see something-or someone-big and black fall past the window at terrifying speed.

"Well would you look at that," said Zidane with a whistle. "He's already made a break for it."

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A/N: Oops.


	5. Chapter 5

**Dissonance**

Dissidia: Final Fantasy and all associated characters are property of Square Enix. This is a nonprofit work.

A/N: Inspired by Chaos's dream in Shade Impulse. No I haven't finished the game yet. I'm aware people may be out of character, but I'm tired of having to work at making good fanfic. That's partly why PYLO has not been updated in forever and, if I get bored enough, may be retconned from about chapter 90 onwards. But enough with the idle threats. Onwards with the story!

**Chapter Five**

The Cloud of Darkness was not a woman. The Cloud of Darkness was made up of many different things, many people and their fear, and fear all by itself. But because of the name given to it-her, for the sake of convenience-she was able to fade into and out of the shadows as easily as a fish might slip into water. She could literally become a cloud of darkness, which was very handy for spying on people like the self-styled "Emperor" Mateus. Currently Mateus was hosting a little party in his section of the Black Palace, right under Chaos's nose. The Cloud of Darkness wondered if Mateus's pride had finally gotten to his head. Or maybe he just knew something no one else did. He could be very irritating that way, something all the entities contained within the Cloud of Darkness could agree on.

"Thank you for coming," said Mateus, looking around the table. He was bold to host the party, yes, but his guests were just as bold for coming. The Cloud of Darkness could see Ultimecia, Kefka, Kuja, and Exdeath all seated around Mateus's circular table. There was one empty seat, and the Cloud of Darkness wondered who else was coming. Gabranth, maybe, or perhaps Sephiroth? It would be interesting to see.

"You no doubt wonder why I do this here," said Mateus. "And not in my own province, or at the very least outside the Black Palace. I do this now and I do this here because I tell you that Chaos-our current Chaos-does not care."

"Oh, why would he?" Asked Kefka, who was busily scratching some sort of design into Mateus's highly polished table. "We're a herd of cats, and he's got so many sheep outside to play with. Or bugger."

He blew the lacquer shavings at Kuja, who glared and flicked them away with his sleeve.

"And he does seem to be in a buggering mood, now doesn't he?" said Kefka, seemingly mindless. "Sits around all day, doesn't terrorize the populace like he used to..."

"You almost expect him to sigh," said Mateus with a slight sneer.

Kefka slammed his palm on the table unexpectedly. "Exactly!" The insane clown chortled.

"What does this have to do with my stolen treasures?" Exdeath rumbled.

"Unfortunately, more than you think," said Ultimecia with a curl to her lips. "Surveillance on the enemy is well and good, but it has been excessive of late. And pointless." She drummed her long fingernails on the table, looking expectantly at Mateus.

He smiled, rising to the challenge. "Chaos has become infatuated with a woman," said Mateus frankly. "The worst possible kind of woman."

"Well, she can't be a whore then," said Kefka promptly.

"What do you mean, 'the worst possible kind of woman'?" Kuja asked, leaning against the table. "Don't they all have their vices?"

"The problem with this woman is that she doesn't have any," said Ultimecia, tapping her fingernails against the table. "And there's no way to disillusion him, because he will never meet her. All he can do is..." And her lips curled in a sneer. "Pine from afar."

Exdeath suddenly sat up. "My treasures!" He thundered.

"Oh, just say 'roses'," said Kuja with a yawn. "We all know your little hobbies."

"So who is this mystery woman?" Kuja asked. "And how is it none of us have ever laid eyes on her?"

"Ah, but we all have," said Mateus, lacing his hands together. "All of us, at the same time, more than once, on a regular basis. At least, on what used to be a regular basis."

Silence fell over the table as everyone worked it out in their minds. Ultimecia and Mateus exchanged a look, obviously unimpressed with their fellows' intellects.

"My point is, Chaos is not himself," said Mateus after the silence had begun to stretch almost uncomfortably long. "He has begun to leave the Throne."

"So?" Asked Kuja. He made a lazy, twirling sort of gesture with one hand as he said, "You act as though that means something. It's not like you can take the Throne by force. It's our land's direct connection to the God of Chaos, who invested a good amount of his power in His earthly avatars. Just sitting in the thing isn't going to confer power onto you."

"I have reason to believe that what we've been told is a lie," said Mateus. "And that the Throne IS that easy to take."

"Don't be ridiculous," said Ultimecia with a haughty toss of her head. "The Succession-"

"Is too orderly," said Mateus. "Our current Chaos has ruled for over a hundred years. Plenty of time to plant a fiction in the populace, that only he is allowed to choose who succeeds him. Yet the history of our land is written in the blood of those who have fought for the chance to sit in the Throne. Their words are then rearranged to suit the one who obtained it."

"One can say the same for you," said Exdeath, looking at Mateus. "Your pride undermines you, "Emperor". Your lust for the Throne makes you blind to the truth of the matter. You will attempt the Throne and be found out. Perhaps even killed."

"I doubt that," said Mateus with a smile. "Chaos has use for me yet. Of all the provinces in the lands of Chaos, mine is the one that is the most prosperous; I have the largest population, treasury, and arable land, and we will need all of those when next we war with Cosmos."

"When next!" Ultimecia scoffed.

Kuja suddenly frowned. He opened his mouth as though to say something, but seemed to think better of it and sat back against his chair, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

The sound of armored footsteps pounding down the hall made the Cloud of Darkness turn, and she saw the great double doors of Mateus's meeting room fly violently open, rocking on their hinges, as Garland stormed in.

"What is the meaning of this?" Garland demanded suspiciously.

"We're having a tea party," said Kefka glibly. He pretended to drink from an imaginary teacup-or, knowing Kefka, he probably honestly thought the cup was there.

"Tea party, my armored behind," Garland snapped. The Cloud of Darkness chuckled-it was really very interesting just how much rougher and nastier Garland became when he wasn't in Chaos's presence, which was both confusing and made perfect sense. "I know treason when I see it."

"Garland, Garland, Garland," said Mateus patronizingly. "We are simply having a friendly little get-together. I'm sorry your invitation got misplaced, but-"

Garland struck much more quickly than the Cloud of Darkness could imagine. From the depths of his deep blue cloak flew something massive and silver, blazing for Mateus's head. But in that same instance Mateus sidestepped, and the end of Garland's massive silver sword buried itself in the wall behind where the golden-armored man's head would have been.

"Move against Chaos, and I will have your head!" Garland shouted. He wrenched the chain-hilted sword free of the wall and glared once around the table, though the effect was somewhat lost since his helmet covered his eyes. Then he left, clanking down the hall.

"Oh dear," said Mateus, looking at the far end of the table. "He destroyed the Cloud of Darkness's chair."

Then he looked up at the ceiling with a smile. "Won't you come down?"

No point in hiding anymore. The Cloud of Darkness dissolved and reformed at the end of the council table, making Kuja jump a little.

"Why do you even assume we will attend?" Asked the Cloud of Darkness, leaning on the table. "What stops us from telling Chaos all we know?"

"Because you're curious," said Mateus. "And you're bored. Don't you want to see where this goes?"

"Perhaps, but not so bored that we go against our maker," said the Cloud of Darkness. She sat on the desk and said, "We have existed since the very first Avatar and our continued existence is at every Avatar's discretion. We've not yet been dismissed, so why tempt fate?"

"Why even show if you don't want to?"

The Cloud studied Mateus, who just smiled back.

"We will...listen," said the Cloud, drumming her fingertips on the table. "But we commit to nothing."

"Well, you'd be foolish to," said Kefka with a cackle. "You know how these wild tea parties can go."

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"Lord Chaos, we must speak."

Garland held his breath and waited. The Throneroom was silent, for Chaos had not yet spoken. Instead he was looking out of the window, idly drumming his fingers on the armrest of the Throne. Garland silently counted to ten in his head.

"Speak then," said Chaos, turning to look at him just as Garland reached ten. "It is unlike you to be so forward, Garland. It must be of some import."

"It is," said Garland. "My lord, may I be frank?"

"You are my successor," said Chaos, tilting his head. "If not you, then who else?"

Garland was glad his assessment of Chaos had been correct, but then again he'd been Chaos's chosen for almost ten years. If he had no understanding of him, it would be a dark day indeed.

"Then to be quite frank, Lord Chaos, things are becoming dire," said Garland.

"Dire?" Chaos's lips drew even further back over his massive and sharp teeth. He sounded amused. "How so?"

"Your distraction is becoming noticeable," said Garland, and he was gratified when Chaos sat up a little straighter in the Throne. "Not an hour ago I heard Mateus make mention of it to Exdeath and Ultimecia."

"Ultimecia?" Chaos laced his top pair of hands together. The other two hands curled loosely into fists.

"If Ultimecia talked, as I'm sure she has, they may know the cause of your recent absent-mindedness," said Garland, and a low growl rumbled from Chaos's throat. "Lord Chaos, I already gave you my view on the matter and while it eases my heart that you sent Sephiroth to deal with the problem, you must rid yourself this distractedness. It smacks of weakness."

Chaos's eyes narrowed. Garland braced himself against the sudden onslaught of fear that always swept over him at the barest hint of Chaos's disapproval and was glad the demon couldn't see him swallow.

"It is in Mateus's nature to talk," said Chaos, shifting in the Throne. "Unless you have concrete evidence of plans to take advantage of my "weakness"?"

"The evidence is Mateus himself," said Garland. "He styles himself as "Emperor" in his province, and he is manipulating the other generals into turning against you. He has aspirations for the Throne."

"And you think _I_ should be worried?" Chaos rested his head on his fist.

"Mateus is not the kind of man who would meekly submit to the Succession," said Garland. "Lord Chaos, you are powerful, but if he manages to turn all the generals..."

"He won't," said Chaos. "And even if he does, he will still find himself with more than he can handle."

"Lord Chaos..."

"Your concern is noted," said Chaos in tones of finality. "And the conversation is finished."

There was nothing to do but bow and leave. Garland left the Throneroom seething. Chaos was obviously not taking the threat of rebellion seriously at all, which had troubling ramifications for Garland. If Chaos did not care enough about making sure his place on the Throne was secure, would he care at all about protecting his chosen successor?

In times past, the Succession had been determined tournament-style, with the survivor of endless mortal combats being selected as the next Chaos. Garland knew that was how the current Chaos had been selected, but for whatever reason Garland had been simply picked. Garland was glad he hadn't had to waste energy destroying the other Generals, but the problem with being selected was that there were doubts in everyone's minds as to whether or not he was truly worthy of the Throne. Currently the only thing that was keeping Garland from having to prove that on a regular basis was Chaos's influence, but...

_"Surely there must be a way to bring Chaos back to himself,"_ thought Garland. _"If only there was a way to break the hold Cosmos has on him... Wait."_

Garland turned a sharp right and began walking briskly down to the armory. Being encased in armor, it was often assumed that his hearing was worse than it actually was, and Garland's rough-and-ready temperament gave the impression he was not quite bright. Garland did not mind people thinking these things of him, because such thoughts didn't change the fact that his hearing was above normal and that he was just as smart as Kuja or Mateus. In fact, people thinking these things of him meant that Garland had quite the collection of secrets. For example, Garland knew that the Cloud of Darkness and Exdeath liked to watch the moon rise together. Kefka raised rats and mice, and then released them into the Black Palace "for ambience". Currently he was trying to breed bats for the same purpose. Even Chaos apparently made the mistake of underestimating him, because a few dropped comments in Garland's presence made the armored stalwart remember something that could very well be the root of this entire problem.

The armor was empty and silent when Garland arrived, which was normal. Centuries ago, it had been a busy place, but the wars with Cosmos's people had decimated the population of the Lands to the point that having an armed force at all times was simply impractical. Now the armory was more like a museum of antique weaponry and enchanted objects, and the image was only enhanced by several glass cases on pedastals that stood about the place, housing different artifacts from around the Lands. The particular artifact Garland was looking for was newer than the rest, but as there was no organization to the armor (of course), it took Garland the better part of an hour to find what he was looking for. It was not quite in the center of the room, sandwiched between a large case holding some sort of peculiar round weapon and another case holding a silver necklace with three dog heads. Garland stood before the desired case and took a moment to look down at the object within. It was a black sphere, seemingly made of onyx or glass, but closer inspection revealed subtle flickers of motion within. Garland studied the fist-sized gem and suddenly wondered if what he was doing was wise. But...

_"It is for the best,"_ Garland reassured himself as he touched the lock and teased forth the tiniest bit of Chaos magic. The lock clicked open and Garland lifted the top of the case off, setting it to the side. As though in response to the fresh hair, the flickers inside the dark orb suddenly increased, almost taking on a writhing form within. Garland picked up the orb and nearly dropped it-not only was it surprisingly heavy for its size, but it seemed to pulse in his hand. He swallowed the sudden surge of nausea.

"For Chaos," said Garland. He lifted the orb high above his head and with a grunt, hurled it against the floor. The orb slammed into the marble floor with a dull crack, and hair-thin lines spidered over its surface. Garland threw his arm over his eyes as the orb suddenly fell apart, releasing a blinding flash of white light. There was no noise. The light seemed to take take forever to fade, and when Garland lowered his arm he could see spots at the corners of his eyes. But the orb lay on the floor, nothing but dull black glass.

"And that should be the end of that," said Garland, nudging the pieces with his foot. Sweeping them together into a pile, Garland used a bit more Chaos magic to incinerate the cracked orb and leave behind nothing but an empty case and the faintest smell of molten glass in the air.

_"Hopefully now Chaos will come back to normal,"_ thought Garland as he left the armory. _"Now that he no longer has a heart to draw on."_

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A/N: New start for the chapter!

Sorry for the delay. I do have a written outline for the story, but recent brainstorming has led to some developments that will hopefully improve Dissonance. The next chapter should be posted sometime soon.


	6. Chapter 6

**Dissonance**

Dissidia: Final Fantasy and all associated characters are property of Square Enix. This is a nonprofit work.

A/N: Inspired by Chaos's dream in Shade Impulse. I finally finished the game, and like many others, found the storyline wanting. Therefore, onwards with the story!

**Chapter Six**

For a place called "Order's Sanctuary," there were plenty of places where chaos had a toehold. One such place was the ruin-studded lake where Sephiroth had first encountered the spiky blonde Champion named Cloud. The chaos here was artlessly beautiful, with tangled vines, unkempt trees, and water that was crystal clear because of ecology, not chemicals. For this reason, Sephiroth had used the lake as his base while flitting around the Sancturary: it reminded him of the pure, unaltered mountain habitat that was his demesne in the Lands of Eternal Midnight. It was, daresay, even more beautiful for all the bursting foliage, and Sephiroth was rather fond of his dwelling under the trees. Not that he would want to live in a tent all year-round, but it sufficed for sleeping and storing basic supplies, one of which was Genesis's copy of Loveless. Sephiroth had never read it, but he liked to have it close, even though...

"_Why DO I like to have this near?"_ Sephiroth wondered as he pulled the small, worn red book out of his duffel bag. He turned it over in his hands, thinking, _"It all ended on anything but a happy note..."_

A rustle made him look up sharply. Tucking the book into his inner breast pocket, Sephiroth slipped his hand into the duffel bag and pulled out his long knife, which had belonged to Angeal. The hilt warmed instantly in his grip, but it sat ever so oddly in the hand; Angeal had had this knife for years before his death. It said something about Angeal's character that the knife was in perfect condition despite being passed down from generation to generation. Under normal circumstances, this would have gone to Angeal's son Zack...

The rustle again. Sephiroth realized he was becoming distracted and eased out of the tent, slipping Angeal's knife up his sleeve. If anyone was ready to ambush him, he would rather they would be caught off-guard. To his mild surprise, his would-be ambusher approached from the front.

"Didn't I break enough of your ribs last time?" Sephiroth asked with a chuckle. Cloud just scowled and put a hand on his hip, leaning back onto one leg.

"Nice tent," said the blonde, gesturing with his free hand. "So this is where you've been staying?"

"Well, if I'd known simply strolling into Order's Sanctuary would have gotten me a nice room..." Sephiroth said with a smile. Cloud's scowl deepened and Sephiroth watched as he unsheathed the huge, interlocking sword at his back. In the trees around the tent, Sephiroth caught more rustling.

_"So he brought friends..."_

With the Masamune even a hundred men wouldn't have been a problem, but Angeal's knife was no seven-foot sword. Sephiroth ran through the options in his mind and decided "flight" would be better than "fight" if things came down to it. He almost laughed when he realized that he'd been safer in the lands of Chaos than Cosmos.

"So why are you here?" Sephiroth asked, walking towards Cloud. The blonde tensed imperceptibly, but did not raise his weapon. Interesting. "Seeking me out for some reason?"

"I'm just curious about that letter," said Cloud.

"Oh, are you."

"That just seems like a really strange thing to send," said Cloud. Sephiroth paced off to the left, noting that Cloud's eyes stayed on him. "More along the lines of a schoolboy crush than a formal greeting."

"It does seem that way, doesn't it?" Sephiroth said with a smirk. The memory of Chaos laboriously poring over the letter was still good for a laugh two weeks later. Sephiroth wondered what he was doing now.

"My question is, how would Chaos know enough of Cosmos to get a crush on her?"

Sephiroth was surprised, but then again, "good" did not necessarily mean "dumb". "Evil and in love" did not mean "dumb" either, and before Sephiroth had left Chaos's lands, he had received very specific instructions not to reveal anything about the Witch's Mirror, the current Generals or Governors, or anything about the Lands of Eternal Midnight at all. So this put him in a somewhat awkward position.

"I am but a peon," said Sephiroth, shrugging and holding out his arms. It made him look unarmed and helpless, which would have made most people lower their weapons a little. Cloud just tightened his grip on his sword. Sephiroth chuckled and said, "What do I know of... My lord and master?"

"You knew enough to be trusted with what's obviously sensitive correspondence," said Cloud, watching him with narrowed eyes. "I don't think you're just a peon, Sephiroth. You seem like you're a Governor. Maybe even a General."

"Were I truly such, would I be delivering letters?"

"Maybe you were disgraced," said Cloud at a pathetically obvious attempt to irritate him.

"Maybe I was," said Sephiroth, stepping towards him. Cloud took a step back and stiffened as Sephiroth closed the distance between them with one stride. Sephiroth could see the rising unease in the young man's eyes as he leaned toward him: no doubt Cloud knew there was no good way to cut him, not when Sephiroth was so close and practically in his blind spot. Sephiroth nudged the oversized sword away with his shoulder, slowly, and laughed inside when Cloud did not move it back. Sephiroth knew the effect he had on impressionable young men, especially when he looked directly into their eyes. Angeal and Genesis had called it "The Paralyzer" and had been convinced it was one of Sephiroth's secret weapons.

"What do you think I might have been disgraced for, hmm?" Sephiroth asked. Oh, it had been far too long since he'd made someone this uncomfortable. It was sheer delight. Sephiroth's face hurt from suppressing his evil grin as he reached up and traced Cloud's jawbone with his fingertip. "Touching little boys?"

Something broke, literally. Sephiroth looked up just in time to see the Warrior fof Light striding toward him, rage suffusing his features. The breaking noise had come from him stamping on a dead tree branch so hard that it had broken clean in two.

"Take your hands off him," the horn-helmed knight snarled.

"Why?" Sephiroth asked as Cloud spun around, startled and red in the face. "Are you jealous?"

"I am hardly jealous," the Warrior snapped. "But I-"

"Let's test that theory," said Sephiroth. He was aware of more than one strangled scream from the woods as he grabbed Cloud by the back of the neck and kissed him passionately on the mouth, keeping one eye on the Warrior. Cloud froze. The Warrior of Light went ballistic.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY SON!" He shrieked, and charged with another screech of rage.

Sephiroth shoved Cloud hard enough to send him flying into the Warrior and took that opportunity to jump hard into the sky. Kissing Cloud had shocked the rest of the champions enough that they didn't immediately react when he leapt, and were thus too far behind him when at last they did move. Sephiroth generated his wing with a twitch of effort and hovered above them all, laughing uproariously, as the Warrior practically danced in impotent rage on the ground below.

"Get back down here!" The Warrior bellowed, waving his sword at him. "Coward!"

"I think I prefer staying where you can't gut me," said Sephiroth, and just because he knew it would annoy the Warrior, he folded his legs and pretended to sit in the air.

"Sephiroth."

Sephiroth turned, startled, and nearly fell out of the air when he saw Cosmos floating beatifically behind him.

"I have composed a reply," said Cosmos, handing him a white envelope and a lily. A lily! She apparently thought Chaos was into flowers. Sephiroth wondered if he should give the flower to Chaos or Exdeath, since it was his roses he was stealing.

"And what happened down there?" Cosmos asked, looking down at her champions. Sephiroth looked down as well and laughed inside when he saw all of them were most scrupulously not looking up.

"Your champions are homophobes," said Sephiroth as he tucked the letter into his pocket.

"Oh, I don't think so," said Cosmos, looking at him in mild surprise. "Some of them are homosexual."

"Have they told the others that?" As Cosmos frowned, Sephiroth realized one last way he could make all of the champions angry. He wasn't stupid enough to try kissing a goddess, of course.

"May I have my sword back?" Sephiroth asked.

"Of course," said Cosmos, gesturing in the air. The Masamune shimmered into being and fell solidly into his waiting hand, which made the champions below apparently panic. That was amusing, but not at all what he had in mind.

"Thank you," said Sephiroth. "I'll be going now," he said, and concentrated hard on the memory of his cave in the Lands of Eternal Midnight. When he could smell the dampness of the cool moss covering the walls and felt the chill of the stone through his feet, he released a burst of internal energy. At once, the released energy shot throughout his being, scattering though his cells and making him flicker like a candle flame. He simultaneously felt the warmth of sunshine and the coolness of moonlight on his face. Sephiroth looked down and caught one final glimpse of the Warrior's apoplectic face before he teleported from Order's Sanctuary to the halls of the Black Palace. The last thing he heard was the Warrior's roar.

"YOOOUUUU BASTAAAAAAAARD-"

_"I think I've just discovered a new hobby,"_ Sephiroth thought with a laugh. _"I can't wait to infuriate him again."_

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A/N: Oh, Warrior of Light. You are fast becoming the best character to make mad ever. I picture you screaming "take your hands off my son" in the same tone that Friar Tuck uses in Disney's "Robin Hood" to say "Get out of my CHURCH!" Hahahahahahaha!

Also, in case you forgot or in case I haven't made it clear enough, the Warrior of Light is not actually Cloud's father. He looked after Cloud, Squall, and Tidus when they were all young uns and as a result, thinks of them as his boys.

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Anyone who's read PYLO knows that I think Sephiroth is pretty sexless, but at the same time, you can't ignore how he gets gayer and gayer for Cloud with each Squeenix installment that comes out. I mean, damn. It's almost canon at this point. Foe Yay at its finest. Soon I won't be able to confidently say that Sephiroth is straight, though to be perfectly honest, there's not much evidence for that either. When have we ever seen him interact with women anyway?

Tifa: Unfazed by her twin mountains, tried to kill her and didn't care enough to finish the job.

Aeris/Aerith: Backstabbery. And he smiles!

Ultimecia: Again, unfazed by boobs and doesn't care much for her personality either.

Huh. Well... That's some pretty compelling evidence, except...

Jenova: MOMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEE

:D

It occurred to me that the older I get, the more fun I have with characters, or rather, at their expense.


	7. Chapter 7

**Dissonance**

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Dissidia: Final Fantasy and all associated characters are property of Square Enix. This is a nonprofit work.

A/N: Inspired by Chaos's dream in Shade Impulse. I finally finished the game, and like many others, found the storyline wanting. Therefore, onwards with the story!

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"To the Avatar of Chaos: Greetings from the Ordered Lands and thank you for your kind letter. It was quite the pleasant surprise, as I hope this correspondence becomes the first step in reaching a mutual accord of real peace. It is for this reason that I send you this lily. If it pleases you, plant it in a garden of your choosing, somewhere where the sight of it puts your soul at ease. Your peer in the stewardship of the Gods, the Avatar of Cosmos."

Silence fell in the throne room of Chaos, broken only by the soft rustle of Sephiroth refolding the parchment and tucking it back into its envelope. In the Throne, Chaos delicately turned the white lily over and over in two of his four hands. His fingers were so massive that the lily stem seemed like a hair between them and the bloom itself was like a star against his hoary black palms. Garland stood at his side, and though his face was obscured by his helm, Sephiroth could almost see the dismay beaming out of his visor.

"There is no bulb," said Chaos finally, lifting the flower and inspecting it at eye level. "How am I to plant this?"

"My lord, you are not serious!" Garland exclaimed, deeply aghast.

"It is unlike anything we have in our own lands," said Chaos contemplatively. "How simple and elegant."

Garland began vibrating with rage. Sephiroth could hear the fine rasp of his plate mail as he shook with suppressed fury. Knowing Garland's foul temper, Sephiroth knew the Heir wanted nothing more than to rip the flower out of Chaos's hands and crush beneath his foot. But of course, even Garland would not dare do such a thing to Chaos.

"Be that as it may," said Garland through gritted teeth. "My lord, you must not keep this. Earlier, when I spoke to you of my concerns about Mateus and-"

"Peace, Garland," said Chaos. He traced the sinuous curve of the lily with one massive talon. "Mateus is all bark and no bite."

"On the contrary, my lord-"

"You doubt my power, Garland?"

"My lord, your power has never been in doubt," said Garland in a voice of forced calm. "But if you appear to be so taken with Cosmos, then the others will take it for weakness. You are the Avatar of the God of Chaos, but there is no reason to purposely forment rebellion in your stronghold!"

"Rebellion?" Chaos turned and looked at Garland, his ember-like eyes smoldering. "I am not some mortal king, ruling at the sufferance of the populace and disposed of with a sword to the neck. The generals can do nothing to me, and do nothing that I do not allow. This barking that so worries you is but meaningless noise that is stilled with a hard slap to the muzzle."

Chaos rose. He was monstrously tall, taller than Exdeath, and the massive proportions of the throne room seemed to shrink to fit him. Garland seemed to shrivel, armor and all. Sephiroth certainly felt like disappearing into a corner. Anger seemed to boil over Chaos's skin as he loomed over Garland.

"When last we spoke on this topic, I said this conversation was finished," said Chaos. "Yet you disobey me and disturb me with this meaningless anxiety again."

"I am allowed to say such things," said Garland, and his voice was surprisingly strong. "I am your successor. If not me, who else?"

"You have already voiced your concerns," said Chaos. his eyes narrowing. "And my patience wears thin. Garland, leave us."

Us? Sephiroth realized with a sinking feeling that Chaos was not using the royal (divine?) "we". Garland realized the same thing and stood for a hair a moment, so angry that Sephiroth could feel it slapping against his skin. In a screech of twisting metal and a heavy snap of the cape, Garland whipped around and stalked noisily from the room. Chaos folded all four of his arms and glowered.

"Hmph," he said finally and went back to the Throne. As he sprawled in the ominous chair, Chaos directed his gaze at Sepihroth and said, "Well, this demands some sort of reply, does it not?"

"I...suppose it does..." said Sephiroth cautiously.

"How do you believe we should proceed?"

Why was Chaos asking him? Sephiroth was a novice when it came to courtship. The one time he'd been in a relationship, he had been the one pursued. He hadn't met anyone he'd wanted to chase, either.

"Well, she did send a gift," said Sephiroth finally.

Chaos nodded. "Yes, she did." His voice turned wistful, or so it seemed. "Did you see her?"

"Yes."

"How did she fare?"

"She seemed well enough," said Sephiroth. "She handles her Champions with blithe grace and assurance. They all feel a great deal of loyalty and affection for her."

"That is well," said Chaos. "And how did they react to your presence?"

"Predictably," said Sephiroth. "But Cosmos seemed to approve of my purpose in coming, so I should encounter little difficulty."

"Ah," said Chaos. "And one more thing..."

"Yes, my lord?"

"You have been touched by Cosmos," said Chaos, steepling two of his hands. His eyes narrowed. "Why?"

Touched? When? Sephiroth thought for a moment. "Oh," he said suddenly. "She touched me with the Scepter of Order."

"Why?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "To extract a promise from me," said Sephiroth. "That I would not cause trouble while in her lands."

"That is reasonable," said Chaos, nodding.

"It was somewhat painful," said Sephiroth, and Chaos frowned. "That, I did not expect. Is the Scepter a weapon against the denizens of Chaos?"

"Normally, no," said Chaos. "The Scepter of Order merely returns things to their original state, but as you may recall, I took something from you when you entered my service."

Sephiroth felt a cold chill run down his spine. "So the Scepter returned it, then?"

Chaos studied him for a long moment. "In a fashion," he said finally. "You were not fully restored, so there is still some protection for you. But what I took _is_ returning, slowly."

Sephiroth began to feel a little ill. Chaos apparently noticed.

"You are stronger than you were," said Chaos in what might have been a kindly tone. "Your apprehension is understandable, but in truth, I believe you have nothing to fear. You will not succumb to madness again."

As this was coming from the God of Madness, Sephiroth felt somewhat reassured. But he still felt uncomfortable.

"Should I leave you to contemplate your reply, my lord?"

Chaos drummed his fingers on the armrest of the Throne. "I suppose," he said. "It has been a while since you've tended to your demesne. I will summon you when I have need of you."

"Yes, my lord," said Sephiroth. He saluted and left the Throne room. Unsurprisingly Garland was waiting for him outside, and Sephiroth sidestepped the angry swipe the armored man took at his throat. He almost drew the Masamune for self defense, but remembered that in the Black Palace, only Chaos and Garland were allowed to be armed.

"I thought you were taking care of the problem," Garland snarled.

"I never said anything of the sort," said Sephiroth. Garland struck at him again, but he was too slow-Sephiroth sidestepped him easily and at once had the open hallway at his back. Garland spun around as Sephiroth began to walk down the hall, pointedly ignoring him.

"Don't you walk away from me!"

Sephiroth sensed the strike before it came and sidestepped again as Garland's bizarre chain-sword shot through the place he'd been standing. He ducked as Garland wrenched the sword to one side and made the heavy bladed chain slice to the side. As the sword began to snap back to Garland, Sephiroth stood up and caught the end of it, hooking his hand in the dull part where one section of the sword reached the other. The sword rattled and strained as it tried to return to its original shape.

"It appears you misunderstand my position in the Black Palace," said Sephiroth as mildly as he could. Garland snarled as he tried to wrench his sword back, but Sephiroth just tightened his grip and the stretched-out chain sword just rattled uselessly between them. "I am neither Governor nor General. I have no need of your favor or approval. The only one I answer to is Chaos, and since it seems he's put out with you, I doubt he'd mind if I knocked your tin-clad self around the Black Palace a few times."

"You dare to presume-"

"Who is handling a sensitive matter for Chaos? And who was forcefully dismissed from the Throne Room?"

Garland yanked on his sword again, but this time Sephiroth let go, and the heavy sword almost knocked Garland over as it snapped back to him with too much force. Sephiroth considered dashing up to the man and kicking him in the face for the hell of it, but he had the hall at his back and no real inclination to annoy the one who would one day assume ultimate power. So he thought of his demesne, sadly untended for far too long, and winked out of Garland's reach. He didn't always have to manifest his wing to access the power; in fact, it was quicker not to. By the time Garland recovered, Sephiroth was long gone.

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Cloud had never really thought much about getting his first kiss. He supposed that when it happened, it would just happen. He would meet someone he liked, they'd hit it off, and then there would be lip contact. Oh, he didn't think it would be magical or have sparks or great fountains of passion or anything like that. Mouths would touch, and whatever happened next would happen.

Sometimes he imagined kissing people. Actually, when he wasn't doing anything in particular, he daydreamed about it rather often. Not because he longed for it, it was just simply something that hadn't happened yet. Sex hadn't happened yet either, or a committed relationship, or even a change in hairstyle. When nothing was definite, it was all open to possibility and imagination.

But that had all changed today. A mixture of embarrassment, indignity, and pure confusion prickled uncomfortably in Cloud's chest as he and the other Knights trudged from the lake to the White Palace. The others were probably feeling similar emotions, but not for the same reasons. They were feeling like they'd failed, letting Sephiroth get away so easily. Cloud, on the other hand...

Well, he always thought his first kiss would be something he would actually participate in. As in, want in the first place.

His neck hurt a bit-Sephiroth had immensely strong hands, and Cloud was pretty sure the man could have broken his head off if he'd just squeezed a bit harder. And being pressed up against him was like hugging a warm marble pillar, albeit one that smelled like leather and something weird. And getting kissed by him, well...

_"Is that the way kisses are supposed to be?"_ Cloud rubbed his mouth. His lips felt bruised, like Sephiroth had headbutted him wth his teeth or something. And the inside of his mouth just felt slimy, because somehow Sephiroth had managed to get his tongue in there. _"I don't see what's supposed to be pleasant about this."_

At least when Tidus had given him air underneath the lake, his little brother hadn't been so forceful.

"What are you doing, Cloud?"

Cloud glanced at the speaker. It was Firion, who gestured at his mouth.

"Oh," said Cloud, dropping his hand. "Nothing."

"Was he a good kisser?" Asked Firion, smirking a little.

"I don't know," said Cloud, shrugging. As such, he missed the spasm of fury that shook Luc's body hard enough to make his gauntlets rattle, though the Champions flanking Luc each took a step to the side.

"Well, did you like it?"

"No."

"Then he wasn't a good kisser."

That made sense. And that should have been the end of it, except...

"That sucks, dude." Tidus, of course. When Cloud simply shrugged, he just HAD to add, "Your first kiss should be a hot girl."

"Firwhanow?" Bartz popped up from behind Cloud, his eyes wide with shock. "What? What? What?"

"Thanks, Tidus," Cloud grumbled. TIdus laughed nervously, and sensing a more receptive target, Bartz changed focus.

"Cloud's never been kissed at ALL?"

"It's not that big a deal," Cloud said loudly.

"It kinda is!" Said Bartz. Fortunately, he seemed more shocked than gleeful. "I mean, you're not exactly bad on the eyes, so-"

"I haven't found anybody I've wanted to kiss," said Cloud, looking at him in annoyance. "Is that so strange?"

"Well..." Bartz opened his mouth, closed it, thought about it, and finally shrugged. "I guess not. Still..."

"Still what?"

"I'm a year younger than you are, and I've kissed LOTS of girls," said Bartz, all but exploding with it.

"Why is that something to be proud of?"

"Because I'm popular with ladies?" Bartz waggled his brows in a way he must have learned from Zidane.

"But how do the girls feel about the fact you've kissed lots of girls?"

"It's not like I'm cheating on anyone," said Bartz, though he sounded just a trifle uncomfortable. "It's just kissing,"

"Right," said Cloud. "It's just kissing."

"But it's fun!"

"It's not fun if you don't want it." Cloud pointed at his mouth. "Case in point; this was not fun."

"But that was kissing a man," said Bartz.

"Hey," said Firion, Cecil, and Shantotto.

Bartz and the other squires stared a bit at that. "Cecil, aren't you married?" Tidus asked finally.

"I had other lovers before I married," said Cecil.

"But... You're married to a woman."

"Yes, I am."

"But..."

Firion and Cecil exchanged looks and laughed. "Ah, the folly of youth," said Cecil, chuckling. "Just because the heart lies in one direction one time doesn't mean that it can't settle somewhere else."

"You're attracted to someONE, after all," said Firion. "Depending how strongly you're attracted to certain parts of their body, you're gay, straight, or bisexual. Seems a bit arbitrary."

Bartz, Tidus, Zidane, and Squall looked very confused. Cloud privately saw the sense of what Firion and Cecil were saying, and wondered what that said about him. Firion was gay as the day as long, but Cecil apparently swung both ways. Which one was Cloud?

_"Well... I don't think I've ever been attracted to a man before... Or a woman, for that matter."_

Did that mean there was something wrong with him? Cloud honestly didn't know, and he wasn't really that surprised. Up until the age of ten, he hadn't exactly had the most normal upbringing, and even after Luc had saved him, Squall, and Tidus from a life of slavery or worse, life hadn't been... Well, what it was supposed to be for a child. And Luc only been 19 when he'd taken on three young boys, and not at all prepared to teach them much of anything except how not to get kidnapped again. And that had been a great gift, the greatest. But now...

_"I don't know who to talk to about this. Or... Anything, really."_

During the whole talk about kissing and sexuality, Luc hadn't turned around once. But Cecil and Firion had shown they were open to discussion and some imparting of wisdom. Maybe sometime in the future...

_"When things actually change, I'll talk to them." _

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A/N: I find it impossible to write more than one Sephiroth at a time. Either I write PYLO Sephiroth, Unlikely Partnership Sephiroth, or Dissonance Sephiroth. They all act different, which makes things somewhat confusing for me. It's like seeing black, warmer black, and cooler black. You can guess which one is which.

And yes, Cecil is married to Rosa. I don't know enough of him to feel comfortable bucking canon, but at the same time, feel that he may be gay. And anyway, bisexual means just that: you are not gay/straight who occasionally likes members of the opposite/same gender. You are attracted to people regardless of gender. Also, just like straight people can get gay crushes, gay people can get straight crushes too. Not saying that Rosa is a straight cruch, but really-sexuality is an interesting, fluid thing. Even with men, and arguably, ESPECIALLY with fictional men :D


	8. Chapter 8

**Dissonance**

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Dissidia: Final Fantasy and all associated characters are property of Square Enix. This is a nonprofit work.

A/N: Inspired by Chaos's dream in Shade Impulse. I finally finished the game, and like many others, found the storyline wanting. Therefore, onwards with the story!

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Springtime in Sephiroth's austere mountain domain was marked only by the appearance of small yellow flowers that dotted the tundra leading up to Sephiroth's cave of residence. Unlike the other major denizens of the Black Palace, Sephiroth had no particular affection for lush textures or rich colors-he was no peacock like Kuja, no poseur like Mateus, and definitely not colorblind and on acid, like Kefka. In fact, there was very little about his demesne that was not completely natural: inside his sleeping cave, there was a feather mattress covered with furs, a low table with some stone lamps, and a chest of clothes up on a few stones to prevent the bottom from being damp. It looked like a caveman's dwelling, which suited Sephiroth just fine. As long as the place didn't leak, attract pests, and was eminently unwelcome to visitors, it suited his purposes.

So it was with some dismay and not a bit of annoyance that Sephiroth found a visitor waiting for him when he rematerialized on the rough path to his cave. He would have tolerated a raven, but this visitor was a human.

"I do not believe we've been introduced," said Sephiroth as the man (who'd been sitting on a rock and picking his teeth) rose to his feet. Though it was cool, the man was shirtless and barefoot. His only concession to the cool weather was the massive feather-ruffed cape that hung like a frame around his powerfully muscled figure; he made no concessions to rank, as his hair was unkempt, his beard was untrimmed, and he had a huge, gangster-like tattoo tracing a jagged target path over his vitals.

"Nah, we haven't," said the man, rolling his shoulder in an insultingly casual manner. His voice rasped like a smoker's, but Sephiroth got the impression that the hoarseness was natural. He seemed too fit to be inhaling substances. Sephiroth suddenly wondered if the man would agree to spar.

"But I know you," said the man, which made Sephiroth blink a bit. "They call you the Silver Hermit, you know that?"

"You speak as though I care what people think of me," said Sephiroth dryly.

The man laughed uproariously. Sephiroth's sensitive ears made him flinch away from the sound.

"I like yer style," said the man, putting his hands on his hips. The easy motion drew subtle attention to the sword hilt at his side, but Sephiroth was not so rampantly paranoid as to read any threat in the man's movements. Not purposeful threat, anyway. Obviously this man emanated threat of physical violence as a matter of course, otherwise he would not be in the Black Palace and so bold as to intrude on his demense without invitation.

"Well, I just came to say hello," said the man, rather unexpectedly. Reaching behind the rock he'd been sitting on, he picked up a ceramic jug and held it up for Sephiroth to see. "And I come bearing gifts. Got a minute to talk?"

Unconsciously Sephiroth leaned back and looked the man up and down. Generals, governors, and other denizens of the Black Palace were not the friendly sort. What did this man want?

"I might," said Sephiroth, eyeing the jug. He did like a good stiff drink, and he recognized the ceramic jug as being a Spiran vintage, which he'd tried a few years before and had liked. On the other hand, it could also have poison, mind-controlling substances, or a hallucinogen. The man did have a sort of "sex offender" feel to him thanks to his harsh voice. "If I knew who I was talking to, of course."

"The current Governor of Spira, at your service," said the man with a mocking little bow. "M'name's Jecht."

"You're a Governor?" Sephiroth exclaimed before he could stop himself.

Jecht grinned. "Don't look smart enough for the job, do I?" As Sephiroth coughed uncomfortably, Jecht laughed and said, "It's alright. I used to be a General before I cut Yu Yevon's head off. Strictly speaking, I'm a Governor Pro Tempore until I find someone who can do the job better than me, and who doesn't piss me off. But no one wants to step forward. Ain't that funny?"

Without waiting for Sephiroth's reply, Jecht uncorked the jug and sloshed it in what was supposed to be an inviting manner.

"I won't lie, I could drink all this alone," said Jecht. "But then I'd have to sleep over, and I don't think yer place is made fer guests."

Sephiroth weighed his options. It had been a rather up and down sort of day, what with enraging Cosmos's warriors, goading Garland, and tolerating Jecht in his demesne when he really just wanted to... To...

_"It isn't as though I had plans..."_

"There ya go," said Jecht encouragingly as Sephiroth walked up to him and took a seat on the ground. Jecht offered him the rock. Sephiroth shook his head. Then they got to drinking. Jecht took the first drink to prove it wasn't poisoned, and from then on, Sephiroth's perception of time blurred pleasantly as the liquid level in the jug steadily dropped. The Spiran vintage burned pleasantly in his stomach and mimicked an emotional warmth he hadn't felt in a long time.

"So," said Jecht. "How was yer trip to the Ordered Lands?"

"That's interesting that you know about that," Sephiroth said.

"Hah! We all do," said Jecht with a grin. "Chaos had the Witch's Mirror moved to the Throne Room and we could all pop in and take a peek at whatever you were doing."

_"I'm going to have to kill Ultimecia,"_ Sephiroth thought absently. _"I never agreed to have my privacy violated."_

"Gotta say, the roses were hilarious," said Jecht, shaking the jug at him a little. "Exdeath blew a gasket of course, and he's put his gardens on alert."

"Guardians don't bother me."

"I said 'gardens', Sephiroth-he's got every bush and tree spelled so they come alive and destroy intruders. Yeah, even the roses."

"Stupid tree," Sephiroth grumbled. He hadn't meant to say that aloud, but when Jecht started laughing, Sephiroth just sighed and chuckled. The chuckles turned to giggles. That was when Sephiroth knew he was really drunk and should be concerned, but he also just drunk enough not to care.

"Too bad we lost everything after you got discovered," said Jecht absently. "Though you came back alive, so those Champions must not be as good as they think they are."

If Jecht didn't know about four of the Champions ganging up on him and beating him into unconsciousness, Sephiroth wasn't going to tell him. But he wasn't going to brag either. So instead he said, "It would be nevertheless be wise not to underestimate them."

Jecht made a noise that sounded like "meh" and "argh" and "I don't really give a fuck".

"Anyway, while we was watching," said Jecht. "I saw a kid that I think might be an escapee from my district."

"Oh?" Sephiroth took a gulp from the jug and passed it back, looking at Jecht speculatively. "And were you planning to chase him down or some such?"

"If that kid is who I think he is, he's part of an important family," said Jecht, lacing his hands together and looking unexpectedly contemplative. "And I'll need him to cement my claim to the Governorship."

"I won't kidnap anyone for you, no matter how good your spirits are."

"Hah! No." Jecht reached into the depths of his cloak and pulled out a roll of parchment. As Sephiroth frowned, Jecht said, "Hey, as long as you're going back anyway, right?"

Sephiroth grumbled and took the parchment, stowing it in his inner breast pocket. "I expect at least another jug of this stuff."

"Of course," said Jecht with a mocking little nod. "The least I could do for a favor."

"So who's supposed to get this?" Sephiroth asked, taking the jug from Jecht. It was getting rather light. "The Champions are all rather young, and there's more than a few 'kids' among them."

"He's blonde," said Jecht. "Late teens. Tan. Swims like a fish."

"Oh, that one." Sephiroth chuckled. He remembered that particular champion, mostly because of his desperate heroics to save Cloud. "I'll do my best."

"Thanks much," said Jecht. He stood up and brushed imaginary dirt off his knees, saying, "It's time for me to be heading back to my area. I'll see you around."

"See you around," said Sephiroth, waving at him. Jecht swaggered off, looking like he'd won something. Sephiroth waited until he'd left his demesne-all major denizens had a sixth sense that let them know about intruders-before taking the parchment out of his pocket and reading it. For a Governor Pro Tempore, Jecht was amazingly careless about security. There wasn't even a string to keep the parchment closed.

"It's time to come back," said the note.

Sephiroth's brows rose. Silently he rolled up the parchment and put it back into his breast pocket. Jecht's note was interesting, very interesting indeed. The idea that there might be a traitor amongst Cosmos's ranks was rather delicious. Chuckling, Sephiroth picked up the jug of spirits and went inside to muse, plot, and take a nap. All of a sudden, he could not wait to go back to the Ordered Lands.

A/N: Sephiroth is definitely OOC in this chapter, but he's also drunk. I envision a tipsy Sephiroth as being a slightly-easier-to-get-along-with version of his normal self, and there's a bit of slowness on the uptake that also comes with drunkeness.

As for Sephiroth's take on Jecht's voice, I 100% agree with it. Somehow between FFX and Dissidia, Jecht apparently turned into a raging lust demon. As my friend put it, he went from a "good ol' boy" to "what a pretty mouth you got there" and even though I am really dense when it comes to subtext and what, I screamed and almost dropped the PSP the first time he spoke to Tidus. Fathers should not sound like that when talking to their sons. I mean, damn. I played it for my friend and she had the exact same reaction. Guh. GUUHHHHHH!


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